Fear No Evil
by BelovedEnemy83
Summary: How do you stay away from evil when it looks so damn tempting and comes in the forms of three very sexy Slytherins?
1. Your Body Matches What Your Eyes Can Do

_**Hey everyone!**_

 _ **I decided that it would be better if I just deleted the whole story and start from scratch. It's still the same basic story line, but I decided that Draco needed a much bigger part and all the characters needed a little more depth.**_

 ** _Also, at some point throughout the story, Hermione WILL_** _ **be paired with all 3 Slytherins. How far the pairings will go, I don't know for sure. People have told me that they don't like this because it perceives Hermione as a "slut," but that's just how this story is, though I've tried really hard to make her as non-slut-like as possible. :)**_

 _ **I hope you guys like this version as much as the first one...**_

* * *

 _Well I'm not paralyzed_ _, b_ _ut I seem to be struck by you_ _  
_ _I want to make you move_ _b_ _ecause you're standing still_ _  
_ _If your body matches_ _w_ _hat your eyes can do_ _  
_ _You'll probably move right through_ _m_ _e on my way to you_

 _-Paralyzer, by Finger Eleven_

Hermione Granger was sitting in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, surrounded by all her friends. This was the beginning of her last year and she could hardly contain her excitement. She would be taking her N.E.W.T.S this year, she would finally decide what she wanted to do for her career, and she had also been named Head Girl. Her friends had all been thrilled at her news, but they hadn't been the least bit surprised. Hermione had absolutely no idea who the Head Boy was; all she knew for sure was that it wasn't anyone from Gryffindor. She hated to say it, but she knew that it wouldn't be anyone in Hufflepuff either, so that left only two choices; Ravenclaw and Slytherin. She was hoping against hope that it would be someone like Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, but deep down, she had a pretty good idea who it was, and it wasn't a pleasant thought. She slowly scanned the Slytherin table and her eyes stopped when they landed on a shiny, silver badge that matched hers. She brought her eyes up to look at the face of the person wearing the badge and her heart plummeted; as she had suspected, Draco Malfoy was wearing the Head Boy badge. He was an extremely close second to Hermione in academics, he was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team and he was Professor Snape's pride and Joy. It made perfect sense that Draco would be the Head Boy, but it still unnerved Hermione to no end. Despite being a role model student, Hermione also knew that Draco was a Death Eater in training. She had no proof of this, of course, but deep in her gut, she just knew that he was. Everyone in his family was a Death Eater, all of his friends' parents were Death Eaters, his own father was Voldemort's second in command, and his aunt was right up there with him. There was absolutely no way that Draco was not a Death Eater; at least, that's what Hermione fully believed.

As much as she wanted to deny it, Hermione had caught herself studying the Slytherin at times. She noted that he always walked with this air of importance and sheer arrogance, and he was never alone; he was always surrounded by hoards of girls vying for his attention, or he was being flanked by his two best friends, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott. Draco had outgrown Crabbe and Goyle at the end of their third year, when it seemed that he had finally realized just how dimwitted they really were. They still hung out with him on occasion, but Draco mostly stuck with Blaise and Theo. Another constant in his life seemed to be Pansy Parkinson as she was currently hanging off him while he was trying to eat dinner. Thanks to the gossiping hoards, Hermione knew that Draco had been dating Pansy off and on since the end of fourth year when they had gone to the Yule Ball together. They had both dated other people, but they always seemed to go back to each other; it looked as though they were 'on' at the moment. Hermione was never able to understand what he was doing with Pansy in the first place; she had short black hair and a pug like face that was just completely unattractive, as far as Hermione was concerned. She suspected that Draco's relationship with Pansy had something to do with the fact that she came from a very wealthy pureblood family, just like he did. Purebloods like the Malfoys and Parkinsons were extremely prejudiced against half bloods, muggle-borns, and muggles. Hermione had had to constantly defend herself against Draco and his friends as they called her 'Mudblood' every chance they got. After the first few years, that word had lost it's meaning and it had stopped bothering Hermione. Despite what those snakes said to her she knew that she deserved to be there just as much as the pureblooded snobs, if not more. She had worked her ass off to get to where she was, and she refused to be ashamed of her 'dirty blood;' she was actually quite proud of it, considering that she was known as 'the brightest witch of her age.'

Witnessing the nauseating display of Pansy fawning over Draco, Hermione couldn't understand what he wanted with a girl like Pansy when he could literally have any girl that he wanted; he was every girl's wet dream. He had short platinum blond hair that fell naturally, as he had stopped using gel in his fifth year, piercing, pale blue, almost silver eyes, and a well defined body that he had gotten from all those years playing Quidditch. Draco was actually at the top of the list that the girls in Hogwarts had titled 'most shaggable boys.' The other boys on the list included Blaise Zabini with his dark, Italian features and hypnotic Indigo eyes, Theodore Nott with his shaggy brown hair and Hazel eyes that changed shades depending on his mood, Harry Potter because he was simply 'the boy who lived,' and Ron Weasley because he was sweet, goofy and completely adorable with his bright red hair. Hermione loved Harry and Ron like they were her brothers, so she had never seen them as 'shaggable.' She did however, see the appeal of the Slytherins; despite being Death Eater wannabes, they oozed sex appeal, and they bloody well knew it.

Hermione had always been relatively successful at avoiding Draco and his friends, but this year it was going to be damn near impossible. She would be sharing a common room with him, and would no doubt be sharing a few classes with him as well. Since neither one of them could stand the sight of the other, she hoped that they year would go bye relatively uneventful as far as Draco Malfoy was concerned.

As Hermione was lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized that she was staring at the Slytherin table. As if he could sense that they were being watched, Blaise Zabini looked over and saw Hermione starring at them. He looked down and saw the Head Girl badge pinned to her robes and he smirked. He elbowed Draco in the ribs and nodded in Hermione's direction as he said something to him; Draco looked over and locked eyes with her. He stared at her intently, but his face was completely blank; not like the usual sneer or smirk he usually wore when he looked at her. He had a look in his eyes that she couldn't decipher, but she felt like she was the only other person in that room and she could feel the mercury in the room shoot up ten degrees. Never in the six years that she had known him had he ever looked at her the way he was at that moment; it felt almost intimate. She managed to tear herself away from his heated gaze, but she couldn't stop herself from looking back at him a few moments later. Draco had turned his attention back to Pansy as she was talking animatedly about something and Hermione noticed that he looked completely uninterested in what she was saying. Blaise, however, was still looking at her, and when she looked back at him, he winked at her. She blushed and quickly looked away and didn't dare to look their way again.

After everyone was settled and the first years had been sorted into their houses, Dumbledore made the usual announcements and introduced the new Head Boy and Girl. When Hermione's name was announced, the Great Hall erupted with applause and cheers from all the houses, except of course from Slytherin; they just sneered at Hermione. She couldn't stop herself from looking at Draco and his group and saw that they all looked rather pleased with this information; she didn't even want to think about why. When Dumbledore announced Draco's name, the Slytherins brought down the house with their cheers and all the other houses applauded politely, including most of the Gryffindors, sans Harry and Ron of course; they just glared at Draco. After Dumbledore announced the new heads, he announced the new DADA teacher and then finished his announcements and asked the new Heads to meet Professor McGonagall at the staff table promptly after dinner. Hermione spent most of dinner gossiping about the new teacher and listening to Harry and Ron go off about the Quidditch tryouts that were coming up in a couple weeks.

After dinner, Hermione told her friends that she would see them later and then she made her way to the staff table. She looked over and saw Draco loitering around with his friends for a few minutes before he finally decided to grace them with his presence; Professor McGonagall gave him a disapproving look and Hermione completely ignored him. McGonagall led them to their dormitory that was located right next to the entry to the dungeons, much to Hermione's dismay. They went inside and Hermione was very happy with her new surroundings; the common room was just a big bigger than the Gryffindor common room and decorated in warm, inviting earth tones with a large couch that was facing a fireplace, several overstuffed arm chairs, a large bookcase, and two desks. Draco's room was on the left, Hermione's was on the right, and the bathroom that they would have to share was located between the two. Before leaving them to their own devices, McGonagall explained a few more things to them. They were each allowed to give the password to their common room to three of their friends, but no one else. Being the Head students, their curfew was extended to one a.m., they had a free period during their first hour so that their patrolling schedule wouldn't take away from their sleeping, they got their very own house elf named Whimsy who would be available to them to bring them meals when their were too busy with their duties and studying to eat with everyone else, and they were allowed to go to Hogsmeade every weekend, if they wanted to. McGonagall wished them a good night and exited the room. Without giving Draco a chance to spout off some nasty comment about having to live with her for the next nine months, Hermione quickly went to her room.

* * *

Shortly after Granger had locked herself in her room, Draco lit a fire in their massive fire place and was staring at the glowing embers when the door to his common room swing open and his two best friends came sauntering in. They ooh'd and aww'd over his impressive new digs and then joined him in front of the fire place.

"It seems that being an insufferable know-it-all all these years has paid off." Theo remarked in reference to Draco being the Head Boy.

Draco elbowed Theo in the ribs, "I'll assume that that was a crack at Granger's expense, wanker."

Theo grinned, "Ah, yes; where is the Head girl this evening?"

Draco nodded towards her door, "Holed up in her room; probably wanted to get an early start on her studies."

Blaise smirked, "I wouldn't mind studying _her_."

Theo groaned, "Oh, sign me up! For the first time in my life, I'm actually jealous of you, Drake."

Draco scoffed, "Yes, I am so lucky to be sharing my living space with that little swot for the next year."

Blaise smiled, "I'd gladly trade you places, mate. You know you have the same disgusting fantasies of the Head Girl running through your brain, so don't try and deny it."

Draco held up his hands in surrender, "I'm not denying anything. If I were any other guy in this school, I would have pounded her into the mattress several times over by now."

Draco looked back at the fireplace and got lost in his thoughts. When he looked down at his left forearm, Blaise and Theo knew what he was thinking.

"It's too late to change your mind, mate." Theo said.

Draco looked up and scowled, "What are you talking about?"

Blaise snickered, "We know you better than you think, Draco. You've spent a great deal of time looking at your arm since that day; no going back now."

"I have no intention of 'going back,' Blaise."

"Do you regret it?"

"Do you?"

"You know why I chose to get marked, so you had better not regret it."

"I don't regret anything, Blaise. I did it for my family."

"Right; and we did it for you. Now that my parents are dead, you are the closest thing to family that I have."

"My father is under the delusion that I did it for him and the Nott name. The bloody fool has no idea that I can't stand him. Of course, he also has no idea that I know that he is responsible for my mother's death just so he could be in the Dark Lord's good graces." Theo said bitterly.

We are in this together, and it's only just beginning."

Draco looked down at his hands, "Do you ever wish you were someone else?"

Blaise scoffed, "And give up my amazing Italian heritage and good looks?"

Draco glared at him, "I'm serious."

"Well, don't be. You made your choice and now you have to live with it."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Will you shut up? I don't regret anything."

Their conversation came to and abrupt end when they heard the door to Granger's room open.

* * *

Hermione magically unpacked her trunk, let Crookshanks out of his cage, and then changed out of her uniform into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt so she could go hang out with her friends for a little while. She opened her door and was met with the sight of Draco, Blaise and Theo standing next to the fireplace. She knew that there was no way she would get out without being noticed, so she braced herself for the inevitable. She shut the door to her room and all three boys turned their attention towards her.

She eyed them warily, "I hope you aren't going to turn _our_ common room into the newest Slytherin hangout, Malfoy."

Draco looked at her, but didn't say anything, so Blaise spoke up, "Don't pretend that you aren't thrilled at the thought of being around us all year, Granger; most girls would kill for the chance."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm not like most girls."

Theo unabashedly scanned over her figure, "Isn't that the truth."

As far as Hermione was concerned, she wasn't a knockout, but she wasn't completely unattractive either. Her hair had lost its frizziness over the years and now it hung in waves down to her shoulder blades. She wasn't overly curvaceous, but she had pretty decent feminine curves, and while she didn't blow all her money on makeup like Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson, she wore eyeliner because she thought it made her normal brown eyes stand out a bit, and a dark pink shade of lipstick that went perfect with her fair complexion.

Hermione ignored Theo's comment and she looked at Draco. He hadn't said a word yet, but he was looking at her with that same heated gaze as before, and it was really starting to unnerve her. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Did you lose your tongue over the summer holidays, Malfoy?"

His expression didn't change, but he finally spoke to her, "I assure you Granger, my tongue works just fine."

The innuendo wasn't lost on her and she blushed.

Blaise smirked, "Sembra dannatamente bene quest'anno," he said to his friends in Italian. (She looks damn good this year.)

"Lei fa certamente." Theo responded. (She certainly does.)

Hermione had always been incredibly turned on by guys who spoke foreign languages and this was no exception. Although, the fact that they didn't want her to know what they were saying made her a little uncomfortable.

"Quest'anno potrebbe non essere così male dopotutto." Draco said, never taking his eyes off her. (This year might not be so bad after all.)

Hermione glared at the trio, "I've got better things to do than listen to the three of you speak in tongues all night."

"You seem awfully interested in our tongues, Granger. Perhaps I can show you some of what mine can do." Blaise smiled.

Oh lordy, it was definitely time to leave. Hermione made a disgusted sound and turned to leave when she heard the door to the common room. Four heads looked at the door as Pansy Parkinson walked in.

Hermione's eyes narrowed to slits at the intrusion and she turned back to Draco, "Just how many of your slimy friends have the password to my common room, Malfoy?"

Being the kind of person that she was, Pansy took it upon herself to answer for Draco, "This is just as much Draco's common room as it is yours, Mudblood."

"I can speak for myself, Pansy!" Draco barked.

Pansy shrank back a bit, but continued to glare at Hermione.

Draco turned back to Hermione, "These are my friends, Granger; they have every right to be here."

Hermione smirked. "Just remember that next time I have _my_ friends here."

Pansy scoffed, "You have to have friends before they can hang out with you, Granger."

As pretty as Pansy was, she wasn't all that smart.

"Do you ever actually think before you speak, or is your whole head filled with rubbish?"

The boys snickered, but said nothing.

Pansy's face turned red and she headed straight for Hermione.

Hermione held her hand up, "Stop right there Parkinson. If you lay a finger on me, I'll give you so much detention, your social life will become nonexistent."

Pansy stopped, but continued to sneer at Hermione, "Is that was this is about? Are you jealous because I actually have a life?"

Hermione snorted, "You call this a life?" She flung her hand towards the Slytherins.

Pansy smiled, "It's a life you could only ever dream of, Granger. Does it bother you that boys like Theo, Draco and Blaise wouldn't look twice at a filthy Mudblood like you? It's not even so much your blood status. You are just so..." She paused to give Hermione a once over, "...plain. Just completely and utterly forgettable."

Hermione thought about what Pansy had said and the conversation she had had with the male Slytherins moments before. She glanced at Blaise, and as if sensing what she was thinking about, he winked at her. She smirked and turned her attention back to Pansy, "Keep telling yourself that, Parkinson. Just remember though, I would rather be an utterly forgettable person, than a vapid, insipid little twat like you. Now, get out of _my_ common room."

Pansy looked to the boys for help, but they all just looked at her. She was their friend, but they were all getting tired of the constant drama. She glared at every last one of them before she stormed out of the common room.

Hermione glared at Draco, "That, right there is why I don't want everyone and their bloody mum having the password to our common room. I at least had the common courtesy to keep it from _my_ friends, so the least you could do it-"

"Alright!" Draco barked, "I get the point, Granger!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You Slytherins are bloody hopeless!"

The boys watched the way her hips swayed as she walked away and Theo let out a low whistle when the door shut behind her, "She's a hot little firecracker."

Draco scoffed, "The key word here is fire; you play with her and you're gonna get burned."

Blaise smirked, "I am definitely alright with that."

* * *

 _ **There ya have it...hope it didn't disappoint.**_

 _ **:)**_


	2. Snake Bite

_**Back again, guys!**_

 _ **In the last chapter, you guys learned that Draco took the Mark, but this chapter will go into more detail about exactly why he did it, so please forgive me if some things are repeated from the last chapter.**_

 _ **Also, it might seem like this is a different story because of how much I added to this chapter, but I swear it isn't; I just wanted to add more depth. I had always planned on this ending up as a Dramione for the most part, but I thought that the previous version of this story fell short when it came to Draco as a character and his 'relationship' with Hermione, so that's why I added a lot more to it. It's still the same story line with LOTS of Blaise and Theo goodness, but now with more Draco goodness as well! :)**_

 _ **On with the show!**_

* * *

 _I'm not the one who's so far away_ _  
_ _When I feel the snake bite enter my veins_ _  
_ _Never did I wanna be here again_ _  
_ _And I don't remember why I came_

 _-Voodoo, by Godsmack_

Draco was sitting in his common room with Blaise and Theo talking about a whole lot of nothing, while sharing a bottle of the finest Firewhiskey that the wizarding world had to offer. He was swirling the amber liquid in around in his glass as his mind ran through the events of that summer and the event that had undoubtedly changed his life.

 _~~FLASHBACK~~_

 _Draco stood in his bedroom staring out the large window. It was a beautiful day in August; the sun was shining bright and he could see birds flying from tree to tree as though they were playing tag. As he stared out the window, he was absentmindedly running his hand over his left arm. In a matter of minutes, Draco was going to become something that he had feared; a Death Eater. He had never feared Death Eaters themselves, just the idea of them. He had spent his entire life surrounded by them and he was no stranger to their way of life. He had been raised to believe that pureblooded wizards and witches were the only acceptable kind; half-bloods, blood traitors and muggle-borns, or Mudbloods as they were most often referred to by the truly stuck up purebloods, were a complete waste of magical talent. Muggles, or non-magical people, weren't even worth_ _y_ _to breathe the same air as magical folk. For the better part of his life, Draco had believed everything that his father had taught him and the result was a self-centered, stuck up, egotistical, cruel, cowardly, spoiled little child. He spent all of his time looking down on those less fortunate than him in any way, whether it be in looks, magical talent, wealth, or anything else. Draco had been very content to live a wonderful and deluded life until his world came crashing down on him when he was fifteen._

 _He had been pulled out of bed in the middle of the night by his intoxicated father and apparated away. Their destination had been a small house, occupied by a muggle family. Draco had still been drowsy, so it had taken him a minute to focus on the scene before him. He was standing in a small living room with meager furnishings and at least ten of his father's Death Eater friends. The muggle family was huddled together on a couch, staring at the intruders with looks of sheer terror. There was a man, woman and two children who were no older than seven. Lucius stumbled over to the woman and pulled her off the couch and away from her screaming children._

 _He threw her onto the ground and pointed his wand at her, "Crucio!"_

 _The woman started screaming and writhing in pain. Lucius looked over at his son and sneered, "This is the only thing that Muggles are good for, Draco! Never forget that!"_

 _After Lucius released the woman from the curse, he let his friends take turns raping her. Her husband had tried to help her, but Lucius used a binding spell and forced him to watch as vicious strangers defiled his wife. While all this was happening, Draco stood stock still. He had heard about his father's "parties," as Lucius liked to call them, but he had never actually been to one. He watched as the woman's husband screamed and begged for them to stop hurting her. He watched as the woman quit fighting and moving all together after the sixth Death Eater had had his turn. He watched as the two children were cowering at the end of the couch, holding onto each other and crying._

 _Lucius took his turn with the woman and when he was done, he pointed his wand at her head, "Avada Kedavra!"_

 _He then turned his wand to the children and their father screamed, "No! Please! I'll do anything you ask! Please don't hurt them!"_

 _Draco saw the sneer on his father's face, "I am doing them a favor; all Muggles are better off dead! Avada Kedavra!"_

 _The children had been huddled so close together that the curse hit them both and their bodies instantly went limp and the light left their eyes. Lucius lifted the binding curse from the man and he ran to his kids. Before he reached them, Lucius muttered the curse and he dropped to the ground just as his hand touched his daughter's hair. Without another word, Lucius grabbed his son's arm and apparated back home. They arrived in their Drawing Room and Lucius went and poured himself a drink. When it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything, Draco left him to go back to his room. Draco got to his room, shut the door, slid down to the floor and cried. Up until that moment, Draco had always looked up to his father. The night that Draco watched his father murder an entire family and two children that reminded him of his baby sister, was the night that Draco lost all respect and love for Lucius Malfoy. Something changed in Draco that night; he no longer saw Muggles, Half-bloods, blood traitors, and Muggle-borns as anything other than people. How someone could murder children in cold blood without any show of remorse was something that he would never understand. The events of that night were never spoken of by either Draco or his father and whenever he was in Lucius' presence, Draco made sure to keep up appearances for fear of his father discovering that he had gone soft._

" _You're going to ruin your lovely skin before it's even Marked Draco. It's too late to change your mind, you know. Everyone downstairs would kill us on s_ _ight_ _I suspect."_

 _The sound of his best friend's voice brought Draco out of his thoughts. He looked down at his arm and dropped his hand, "I've told you a thousand times, Zabini; I'm not changing my mind. Are you trying to tell me that you have?'_

 _Blaise rolled his eyes, "I've told you a thousand times that we are in this together._ _You, me, and Theo; w_ _here you go,_ _we_ _go._ _I only wish that he could be here with us today."_

" _Yes, well, his father is under the impression that Theo is just like him and_ my _father. Theo is getting his own celebration tomorrow."_

" _Well, y_ _ou_ _, Theo, and_ _your family have been my family for the last five years. After my parents died, your parents took me in as their own. I will be forever grateful to them for that."_

" _So you're doing this for my parents then?" Draco smirked._

" _No, I'm doing this for you. Someone has to watch your back."_

" _That's why I'm doing this. Someone has to keep my mother and sister safe."_

" _There's always your father..."_

 _Draco scoffed, "Everything that my father does is just for him. I can't trust him to keep my mother and sister safe if something happens and their lives are on the line. He will always save himself first; the coward that he is."_

" _You used to be like him, you know. A cowardly twit, I mean." Blaise smiled._

" _Yes, well, I grew up, didn't I?" It wasn't a question. Draco had never told Blaise about that night with the Muggle family. He had been afraid that his friend would have thought less of him for being a witness to that night and not turning his father and his friends in. Looking back now, he knew that Blaise would have forgiven him; he had just never found the opportune moment to fill him in._

 _A knock at the door interrupted their conversation; the door burst open and a little girl with long blond hair and a huge grin came running into the room and jumped into Draco's arms._

" _Did you see what Aunt Bella got for me Draco!?" She thrust her little hand in his face and showed him the stuffed bear._

 _Draco smiled, "That's great Izzy! She always gives the best presents, doesn't she?"_

 _The little girl nodded enthusiastically._

" _Isabella, you shouldn't be bothering your brother right now."_

 _Narcissa swept into the room and took her daughter from Draco's arms._

" _I just wanted to show him my bear."_

" _It's lovely dear." She kissed Isabella's head and handed her off to Blaise._

" _Will you take her to her room, Blaise? I'd like to have a word with my son."_

" _Of course." He took the little girl and swung her around and flew her out the door like an airplane and she giggled all the way._

 _Narcissa turned to Draco, "Are you sure you want to do this Draco?"_

 _Draco let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hands through his hair, "I swear, mother! Between you and Blaise..."_

 _She put her hand on his shoulder, "I just want you_ _t_ _o understand what you are getting yourself into."_

" _Do you really think that I don't know what I'm about to do? Do you really think that I haven't spent months thinking about the fact that I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing the devil's dirty work?_

 _Narcissa shushed her son, "You never know who could be listening."_

" _I'm doing this for you and Izzy; end of story. I can't trust my father to protect you like a real man would."_

 _A sad smile crossed his mother's face, "Your father used to be a good man, Draco."_

" _I wouldn't know; this is the only father I've ever known; A selfish bastard."_

 _The smile left her face and it was replaced with a look that Draco had gotten so used to seeing. He hugged her reassuringly, "As long as I'm alive, you and Izzy will be safe."_

 _Narcissa caressed her son's cheek, "You are too good for this family, my son."_

 _There was another knock at the door and Blaise reappeared, "Izzy's in her room playing with the elves. I told them to keep her occupied until this is over."_

 _Narcissa smiled and held out her hands to Blaise. He walked over and took them and she squeezed his hands, "You are like a second son to me, Blaise. I hope you know that."_

 _Blaise smiled, "I do."_

" _And you are the greatest friend that my son could ever have."_

 _Blaise smirked, "Can you tell him that?"_

 _Draco punched his shoulder and Narcissa smiled._

 _At that moment, Bellatrix appeared at the door with a crazy grin on her face._

" _Boys, it's time! It's time for you to become one of us!"_

 _Draco was severely bothered by the fact that his aunt was so excited. Of course, he had always known what a crazy lunatic she was, but it still never ceased to amaze him how depraved she really was._

 _Draco put on his best game face and smacked Blaise on the back, "Let's get on with it, then!"_

 _He winked at Narcissa and followed them all out the door._

* * *

 _It had hurt like a bitch. Draco's skin was still searing as he stood and watched Blaise go through the same torture. He was clenching his teeth so hard, Draco was sure that he was going to crack a tooth. When it was all over, Lucius called the boys into the Drawing Room._

 _He clapped them both on the back and grinned, "Congratulations, Boys! Welcome to the family!"_

 _Blaise was just as good at pretending as Draco was, "It's an honor, sir."_

 _Draco forced a smile, "It truly is, father."_

" _I'm so proud of you, Draco; you are shaping into a fine man, my son."_

 _The door was suddenly flung open and people started pouring into the room, ready to congratulate the two newest Death Eaters. They boys put on their best game faces and proceeded to join in on the party. The party mostly consisted of men getting drunk and slags hanging off their arms; Draco and Blaise were more than happy to partake in the drinking, but they steered clear of the women. When the festivities were well underway, a highly intoxicate Lucius Malfoy came stumbling through the door with two very frightened young women by his side. He flung one of the girls at Draco and he caught her before she stumbled and hit the floor. Lucius handed the other girl off to Blaise and then went to get another drink. After they had agreed to receive the dark mark, Draco and Blaise had known that this would be coming. They knew that Death Eaters took whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted; that included women, as Draco had discovered years earlier. Luckily, they were both prepared for this. Draco grabbed hold of the girl's arm and dragged her up to his bedroom. Not wanting to raise suspicion with the hordes of people milling all over the house, Draco opened the door to his room, shoved the girl in and slammed the door behind him, muttering a locking and silencing spell. The girl was sobbing as she tried to get as far away from him as possible._

 _Draco took a small step towards her, "Relax; I'm not going to hurt you."_

 _The girl stopped sobbing and looked at him, "You aren't?"_

" _No."_

" _Then why-"_

" _It's complicated."_

" _Why did that man bring me here?"_

 _Draco sighed, "You don't want to know."_

" _It looked like there was a party going on. Am I supposed to be a present for you?" The girl was clearly terrified, but she couldn't help spitting the word 'present' at him._

" _Something like that. Look, what's your name?"_

" _Christina."_

" _Well Christina, I have no intention of...unwrapping my present, so will you please calm down?"_

" _Do you think this is funny?" She barked._

" _You are awfully mouthy for someone who is locked in a bedroom with a man that is twice your size."_

 _Draco saw some of the color drain from Christina's face, "You said you aren't going to hurt me."_

" _And I'm not. Although, I suggest you lose the attitude or I might change my mind."_

" _Sorry."_

 _Draco pointed to a chair, "Sit; we are going to be here for a while."_

 _She warily made her way to the chair and sat down. Draco sat down on his bed and studied the girl in front of him. She looked to be about his age with long blond hair and bright green eyes. Her nose was a bit too large for her face, but all in all she was quite attractive. She was wearing a sky blue sun dress with white sandals and pink toenails to match her manicure._

" _What were you doing when my father found you?" Draco asked,_

 _Christina gasped, "That monster is your father?"_

" _I'm sorry to say that he is."_

" _My sister and I were on our way to my cousins house and-" at the mention of her sister, Christina shot out of her chair, "Natalie, I have to find her!"_

" _Is that the other girl that my father brought with him?"_

" _Yes. Please, she's only fifteen!"_

" _She's with my friend Blaise; she will be_ _alright_ _."_

 _Christina slowly sat back down, "I don't understand any of this."_

" _Well, I can't explain it either, but I promise you that she will be ok."_

" _What's your name?" Christina asked._

" _Draco."_

" _Draco; that's an interesting name."_

" _So I've been told."_

" _It's pretty. You don't seem anything like those men downstairs; why are you here?"_

" _I'm doing what I have to do to protect my family."_

" _Your father?"_

" _No, I could care less about him. I'm doing this for my mother and sister."_

 _Draco didn't feel like sharing so he stood up and motioned for Christina to stand as well. When she did, he took his wand out and pointed it at her. He muttered a few spells and watched as one of the straps on her dress snapped, her hair was thoroughly mussed and a small cut appeared on her lip, as well as a bruise on her cheek. Satisfied with his work, he pointed his wand at her again and said, "Obliviate." The panic that had been on Christina's face was replaced by with a look of utter confusion. Before she could say anything, Draco spoke again, "Imperio." The confusion subsided and a look of contentment crossed her features._

 _Draco walked up to Christina, "When you leave this room, I want you to cry and scream bloody murder. I want you to run down the stairs and out the front door as if the Devil himself is chasing you. Do not stop until you are home."_

 _Christina nodded her head with a smile on her face. Draco lifted the locking and silencing spells on his room and opened the door and shoved Christina out the door. Right on cue, Christina burst into tears and screamed loud enough to wake the dead. She bolted down the stairs and out the front door, passed all the drunk men. They stopped for a moment to watch the girl, then they looked up at Draco who was standing at the top of the stairs with a very smug look on his face. He had untucked his shirt and undone a few buttons for the full effect. The men looked at him for a moment and then burst into a chorus of cheers. Draco descended the stairs and grabbed a bottle of Firewhisky out of a man's hand who just shrugged and went to get another one. When Draco was a third of the way through the bottle, he saw Natalie come down the stairs in much the same manner as her sister had, only a little quieter. She bolted out the door and Blaise appeared. He received the same hoots and hollers as Draco had and he wore a similar expression. He joined Draco and commandeered the Firewhisky; he gave Draco a knowing smile and took a big swig of the liquid fire._

 _~~END FLASHBACK~~_

Draco was ripped out of his memory when he felt a pillow pelt him in the head. He grabbed the offending furniture accessory and threw it back at Theo, "What?"

"That far away look you've had almost constantly since school began is getting old, mate."

Blaise refilled his glass, "Theo's right; you've got to snap out of it, Draco."

Draco slammed his glass onto a nearby end table, "I'm worried about my mom and sister, alright!? I can't stand the fact that I'm here in this blood useless school while they are out there, unprotected! This school can't teach us anything that we _really_ need to know about the world. It sure as hell can't teach us how to survive in this upcoming war! If my father knew about what's _really_ going on in my head, he'd kill the girls just to make me suffer and then kill me for being a blood traitor!"

Blaise put his glass down and squeezed Draco's shoulder, "You need to relax, Draco. Your mother and sister are going to be fine!"

"You don't know that! " Draco barked.

"Yes, I do! When the war starts; that's when you need to start worrying, and by then we will be out of this place."

Draco let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair, "I just don't like them being alone."

Theo refilled Draco's glass and handed it to him, "We know, mate. You just need something to take your mind off of it."

Draco narrowed his eyes at Theo, "Don't start, Nott."

Theo chuckled, "Did you honestly think that Blaise and I wouldn't remember that drunken night just last year where you revealed your obsession over our very fine Head Girl?"

Draco growled, "I am _not_ obsessed with Granger! It's just a-"

"Crush?" Blaise offered.

Draco pushed Blaise away, "I am not a silly fifteen year old girl, Blaise!"

"We don't blame you, Drake; not in the least. In fact, if you don't jump on this perfect opportunity that has been dropped in your lap by The Powers That Be, _someone else_ will."

Draco scoffed, "By someone else, I assume you mean yourself."

Blaise grinned, "Absolutely."

Draco waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "By all means, knock yourself out. I've got too much going on in my life right now to make the most vexing female on the planet a part of it."

As if on cue, the common room door opened, and the subject of their conversation flounced in.

* * *

Around ten that night, Hermione said goodnight to her friends and headed back to her common room; the next day was going to be incredibly busy for her and she needed her rest. When she got to her common room, she heard voices on the other side and she knew that Draco's little friends were still there. She laughed out loud when she thought of them as 'little;' there was nothing little about the Slytherins. She braced herself for another confrontation and opened the door. Sure enough, Draco, Blaise and Theo were all sitting around the common room talking; thankfully, Pansy Parkinson was nowhere to be seen. When she appeared, they all stopped talking and turned to look at her. She ignored their leering and glared at the offending, and very lovely Slytherins. She had never had the opportunity to be so 'up close and personal' with them in the past and now that she was, she knew that she could get into a lot of trouble as far as they were concerned if she wasn't careful. She made the mistake of letting her mind wander and she started thinking of three sets of hands doing very bad, but also very good things to her and she couldn't stop herself from blushing furiously.

Blaise saw the tint to her complexion and he smiled, "What's on your mind, Granger?"

His velvety voice brought Hermione out of her daze and she blushed even harder at being caught, "Nothing." She squeaked.

He smirked, "Really?"

Hermione didn't like the smug look on his face and she glared, "Yes, nothing's on my mind. What are you two doing here after curfew?"

"What does it look like they're doing, Granger?" Draco drawled.

"It looks like they are breaking the rules."

"What's it to you?"

"I'm not going to get into trouble because you are a bunch of rule breaking gits! This is your one 'get of jail free' card."

All three boys looked at her like she had lost her mind, "What the hell does that mean, Princess?" Blaise asked.

"It's a Muggle term; it means that I won't report this little lapse in judgment, this time. And, don't call me Princess."

Draco got up from the couch and stormed over to her, "What makes you think that you have any control over this, Granger?"

"Because I'm the Head Girl, you stupid arse! I'm not going to risk losing everything I've worked so hard for because of you three...snakes!" She bellowed.

Draco clenched his teeth, "Mind how you talk to me, Granger."

Hermione took a step closer to him and they were almost touching. He was a good foot taller than she was, so she had to look up, "Or what, ferret?"

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, "I can make your life very difficult, Princess."

Hermione was so sick of his empty threats, and now with the new pet name, she snapped. She growled and launched herself at Draco, trying to hit him, kick him, punch him or anything else that would leave a mark on him. He barely flinched when she jumped at him, but seeing that she obviously wasn't going to stop until _someone_ got hurt, Blaise decided to intervene. He casually got up from the couch and went over to peel Hermione off of Draco. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off, kicking and screaming.

"Let me go, Zabini!" Hermione barked.

"You need to calm down, love." Blaise whispered in her ear.

Hermione ignored the shiver that tore through her body at the feeling of his breath on her ear and she kept trying to wiggle out of his arms, "Dammit, let me go!"

Draco was just standing there, watching her with a highly amused expression on his face. That just angered Hermione more and she started struggling harder to get free.

"I'm going to rip apart his beautiful face!" She roared.

This made Draco smile and he walked closer to her and leaned down to her eye level, "You think I'm beautiful?"

He was just out of her arm's reach and she growled at him, "Your little friends can't protect you forever, Malfoy; I know where you sleep."

Theo chuckled at the highly amusing entertainment, "Come now, Granger; we are far from little."

Draco smirked, "First you are trying to claw my eyes out, then you tell me I'm beautiful, and now you are thinking about my bed; I had no idea you were such a masochist."

"Anche se sono abbastanza godendo il suo dimenarsi contro di me, probabilmente si dovrebbe mollare. Lei alla fine arriva da solo e lei avere la sua bacchetta la prossima volta; è sempre la quiete, amico." Blaise smiled at Draco. ( _Although I am quite enjoying her squirming against me, you should probably let up. She will eventually get you alone and she'll have her wand next time; it's always the quiet ones, mate._ _)_

Hermione howled in rage, "I know you are talking about me! _Put me down_!"

Blaise brushed the hair away from Hermione's ear and leaned in again, "You need to relax." He murmured, as he just barely grazed his lips against the skin just behind her ear in a feather light touch.

"That's not fair; stop trying to distract me." Hermione whimpered and stopped struggling.

She looked around the room and realized the position she was in with three of the sexiest guys she had ever seen, and more fantasies came rushing into her head and she suddenly realized that she needed to get out of there...fast. She stopped trying to grab at Draco and she put her hands on Blaise's; his hands were so warm and so soft and the feeling of him holding her so closely was making her brain fog up. She swallowed thickly and gently pulled his hands away from her as he set her on the ground. Hermione saw that Draco still had that damnable smirk on his face and even though she knew that she would probably live to regret it, she couldn't resist hauling off and hitting him square in the jaw with all the strength she could muster. She didn't see Blaise close his eyes and shake his head, but she did see Draco's eyes flash and the look he gave her had her quickly backing away from him. She backed into Blaise and he put his hands on her hips to steady her. She heard Draco growl at her and she braced herself for some pain. Before any blood was shed, Theo darted up from a chair and was holding Draco back before he could get to her.

"Non sarebbe la migliore idea per voi per uccidere il Caposcuola prima dell'inizio delle lezioni ancora di iniziare." Theo said. ( _It wouldn't be the best idea for you to kill the Head Girl before classes even start.)_

"Ha ragione, Drake; appena lasciato andare, l'uomo." Blaise added. ( _He's right Drake; just let it go, man.)_

Hermione was flush against Blaise, just praying that he and Theo were convincing Draco not to kill her. Draco closed his eyes and clenched his fists, visibly trying to calm down. His eyes snapped opened and he sneered at Hermione.

"This is _your_ one 'get out of jail free' card, Granger. Next time I won't be nearly as nice."

Hermione knew that she should just shut up and walk away, but she just had to put her foot in her mouth again, "Do not threaten me, you ferret!"

Draco growled at her again and Blaise spun Hermione around, "Christ Granger; you just don't know when to shut up, do you?"

Her threw her over his shoulder and walked to her room, ignoring her squeaks of protest, 'What's your password?"

Hermione scoffed as she hit his back with her fists, "Like I would ever give _you_ my password!"

"The second Theo and I leave, you will be all alone with Draco...without your wand."

That realization made Hermione stop struggling, "Amaryllis is the password." she murmured.

Blaise said the password, the door swung open, and he plopped her down just inside the door, "You might want to lock your door. Sweet dreams, Princess." He winked at her and shut the door.

Hermione grabbed her wand off her nightstand and said every locking spell she could think of. She stripped off her clothes, put on her most comfortable pair of pajamas and then crawled into bed. She was so exhausted from her near death experience that she almost instantly fell asleep.

Out in the common room, Draco poured another glass of Firewhiskey and downed it in one gulp, "See what I mean? If I made that woman a part of my life, one of us would surely kill the other."

Blaise and Theo laughed.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione's alarm went off at six and she shut it off and trudged out of bed. She grabbed her toiletries and wand and headed towards the bathroom. She knew that Draco wouldn't be up this early, so she muttered all the locking spells she knew on Draco's door and got ready for the day. After she was showered, her hair was done and her makeup applied, she undid the locking spells on Draco's door and went back to her room. She got dressed, grabbed her bag, scratched a sleeping Crookshanks on the head and left her room, carefully tiptoeing her way across the common room. She bolted out the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she was in the clear and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She didn't plan on avoiding Draco forever, she just wanted to give him as much time as possible to get over the fact that he most likely wanted to hex her into oblivion. When she got to the common room, she wasn't surprised to see only a few people milling about. Her best friend, Ginny Weasley was one of them.

"Hermione! What are you doing here this early?" Ginny asked.

"I had a slight run in with Malfoy last night and I'm trying to avoid him until he has the chance to cool off."

Ginny frowned, 'What happened, 'Mione?"

"He threatened me and I may have punched him."

Ginny's eyes went wide, "You hit him again? Oh, Hermione; he's not the same as he was in your third year. How did you get away without being hexed?"

"Well, Zabini and Nott were there."

Ginny gasped, "You hit Draco Malfoy when his two best friends were there? Have you lost your mind!?"

"Nott stopped him from attacking me and Zabini...helped me to my room."

Ginny flushed, "I can't believe you are going to get to spend so much time with three of the hottest guys in this school."

Hermione remembered the feeling of Blaise being so close to her last night and she couldn't help but blush. No man that attractive had ever given her the time of day and she knew better than to think that someone like Blaise Zabini would ever be interested in her; he was just messing around. She had had enough experiences with boys to know that she wasn't worth a damn to them. She had been head over heels in love with Ron Weasley since her fourth year and he had chosen that slag Lavender Brown over her. She was over him now and just saw him as more of a brother, but sometimes it still hurt to see how head over heels he was for Lavender. She had had a brief thing with Viktor Krum during the Tri-Wizard's Tournament, but when she had refused to sleep with him, he had dumped her and gone after a Ravenclaw. Then of course, there was last summer with her muggle neighbor; he had come home from University for the summer and she had always had a crush on him and when he had asked her out, she had been so excited. Deciding that if she was ever going to have a guy that actually wanted her, she was going to have to give him what all guys seemed to want. After their first date, she had given her virginity to him in hopes that he would stick around and show her what she had been missing by not having a boyfriend. After two weeks had gone bye and she hadn't heard a word from the boy, she realized that she had been used. He had used her to get laid and then he never spoke to her again. She had tried so hard to figure out what it was about her that seemed to turn guys off. She had gone back to school in hopes that someone...anyone would prove to her that not all guys were jerks. She had started taking more pride in her appearance, but deep down, she knew that she was still the same unattractive book worm know-it-all that she had always been. She had watched guys like Blaise, Draco and Theo mess around with girls that were less than pretty just because they knew that they were sure to get lucky, but Hermione would be damned if she was going to become like those girls.

Ginny noticed the tint to Hermione's cheeks, "You're blushing; why are you blushing?"

Hermione blushed harder and Ginny narrowed her eyes, "What happened, Hermione?"

"It's not a big deal, just Zabini being...Zabini."

"Zabini!?" Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her onto the couch, "Tell me what happened."

Hermione told Ginny about her 'interaction' with Blaise and Ginny's eyes got wider by the minute. When Hermione finished the story, Ginny let out a breath, "Wow."

"I know he was just trying to distract me so that I wouldn't try to pummel Malfoy, but it still felt...really good."

Ginny cocked her head to the side, "You think he was trying to distract you?"

"Well yea; why else would he do it?"

"Um, maybe because you're hot and he likes you?"

Hermione let out a bark of laughter, 'Yeah right, Ginny."

At that moment, Ron came bumbling down the stairs just as Lavender was coming back from the bathroom. She spotted Ron and squealed as she ran up and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss. Ginny and Hermione both rolled their eyes at the disgusting display.

"That's why; Ron didn't even want me, so why the hell would a guy like Blaise Zabini want me?"

"Ron is an idiot, Hermione."

"Maybe, but he's not blind."

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I can't compete like girls Lavender, or Pansy Parkinson, or you!"

Ginny scoffed, "Are you seriously comparing me to those two twits?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I mean that you are all beautiful and I'm just...not."

"How can you say that Hermione; you're gorgeous!"

"No, I'm not Ginny."

"Is this because of that jerk Matt? I'm so sorry that that arsehole did that to you, but not all guys are like him. Not all people can have what Harry and I have either. You are smart, kind, caring, loyal, and beautiful. You are the complete package and guys are intimidated by that."

"Not guys like Zabini. He could have any girl he wants, and definitely someone better looking than me."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "You're hopeless, Hermione."

She turned her attention back to her brother who was snogging the life out Lavender and she made a gagging noise, "Come on, let's go to breakfast before I lose my appetite."

* * *

During breakfast, everyone received their schedules for the semester and Hermione was very pleased. Her first class was double Advanced potions, which just happened to be her favorite subject despite who the professor was. Every day she had Potions, Transfiguration and DADA, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights she had Astronomy, and on Tuesday and Thursday she had Charms and Arithmancy. With her patrolling and other Head Girl duties, she was going to be plenty busy this year, but that's how she liked it. The busier she was, the less time she had to let her mind wander to stuck up pretty girls and beautiful Slytherins. Hermione was on her way to potions when she looked in her bag and saw that her book wasn't there. She cursed and headed back to her room to grab it. When she finally found her book, she was already five minutes late for class; Snape was going to have a field day.

She jerked open the door and rushed inside, 'I"m so sorry Professor! I forgot my book in my room and-"

Snape put up his hand, "I do not have time for your insolent excuses Ms. Granger. Fifty points from Gryffindor; now take a seat."

Hermione blushed and sat at the only empty table in the room which happened to be in the very back, in the far corner, and right behind Draco and Theo no less.

Draco turned around and smiled at her, "Late to the first class on the first day? That is very unbecoming of a Head Girl, Granger."

Hermione sneered at him, "Piss off, Malfoy."

At that moment, the door burst open again and Blaise came rushing in.

Snape glared at him, "Let me guess Mr. Zabini, you forgot your book?"

"Yeah, we'll go with that." Blaise smirked.

"Thirty points from Slytherin; take a seat."

Parvati Patil, who was sitting in the the middle row, stood up, "Sir, that's not fair! You took fifty points from Hermione!"

"Ms. Ganger is the Head Girl, Ms. Patil; She is expected to set a better example to the other students. Sit down, or I will take points from you as well."

Parvati glared at the potions master as she sat down.

When Blaise saw that the only available seat in the room was next to Hermione, he gave her a wolfish grin as he made his way over to the table. Hermione was going to have to sit next to him for the whole class and all she could think about was the feeling of his lips on her skin and his hands on her body. She could feel herself flush and she quickly started rummaging through her bag for her supplies. Blaise dropped his bag on the floor and took his seat. He nodded to his friends and leaned over towards Hermione, whose head was in her bag.

"Morning, princess," he murmured in her ear.

Hermione jumped and glared at him, "Personal space, Zabini!" She hissed.

The boys in front of her snickered and Blaise just smiled.

They all turned their attention to Snape when he started talking, "Now, I hope you all chose your seats wisely because the person sitting next to you will you be partner all year."

Hermione didn't miss the self satisfied smirk that Snape shot at her when she realized that she was going to be surrounded by Slytherins all year; Blaise looked extremely pleased with the information and Hermione felt like going back to bed and staying there until she was thirty. Snape turned them lose on the Felix Felicis potion and Hermione immediately went to gather the ingredients. Hermione worked diligently the whole period, doing her best to ignore the three Slytherins as they were relentless in trying to get her flustered enough to mess up the potion.

At one point, Hermione felt a hand on her ass and she stabbed Blaise in the throat with her wand, "Keep your slimy hands to yourself, Zabini!"

Blaise gave her a knowing look, "That's not what you were saying last night, princess."

Hermione blushed and brought her wand to his chest, "If I mess up this potion because of you, I'll hex you so bad your kids will feel it!"

Despite the fun that he was having, Blaise decided that he didn't want to fail the assignment on the first day, so he kept his hands to himself for the rest of the period. When the potion was finally finished, it looked perfect. Hermione bottled it up and started packing up her stuff.

"Malfoy." She was trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to want to listen, "Malfoy!" She barked.

He gave her an annoyed look, "What?"

"McGonagall wanted me to tell you that we have a prefects meeting in her classroom right after dinner tonight and she wants us to spread the word. Will you tell the rest of your house and the Ravenclaws?"

"No." Was all he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Come on you prat; I don't have time to scout out all the prefects myself!"

"Not my problem, Granger." Draco slung his bag over his shoulder and sauntered out of the room.

Hermione slammed her bag on the desk, "It _is_ his problem; he's Head Boy! I hate him!" She spat.

Blaise chuckled, "He's just being Draco."

"Well, I hate him! How am I supposed to find all the bloody prefects before tonight? I don't have time for that!"

"Sometimes you've just got to make some noise to be heard, Princess; see you at lunch." Blaise winked at her before leaving to join his friends.

Hermione stood there for a minute trying to figure out what the hell Blaise was talking about; she was halfway to her next class when it came to her.

* * *

Lunch was in full swing when Hermione hopped up onto her chair and tried to get the attention of everyone. All the Gryffindors looked at her, as well as a few of the Hufflepuffs, but everyone else was oblivious.

Hemione growled in frustration, "Hey everyone, listen up!" She barked.

That seemed to do the trick and the Hall became silent as everyone looked at her, "Thank you; I just wanted to tell all the prefects that our first meeting is tonight in Professor McGonagall's classroom right after dinner. Ok, that's all."

She hopped off her seat and sat back down and looked over at the Slytherin table and saw the amused expression on Draco's face as he looked at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention to Blaise; he was smiling at her and she couldn't help but wink at him.

* * *

 _ **Ok, there you have it!**_

 _ **I added a lot to Draco's story and I hope you all enjoyed it!**_


	3. Platform Double Suede

_Hangin' 'round downtown by myself_ _a_ _nd I had too_ _m_ _uch caffeine_ _  
_ _a_ _nd I was thinkin' 'bout myself_ _a_ _nd then there she was_ _  
_ _In platform double suede_ _, y_ _eah there she was_ _, l_ _ike disco lemonade_

 _-Sex and Candy, by Marcy Playground_

It had been almost a month since school had started and things were going good for Hermione, for the most part. She was doing well in all her classes, she was loving her job as Head Girl, and she still seemed to find enough time to put in an effort on her social life. Yes, things were going pretty well. Well, she _was_ having one small problem; Blaise Zabini. Since school had started, he had been relentless and shameless when it came to flirting with her. He never went out of his way to track Hermione down, but being her potions partner, a prefect and her fellow Head student's best friend, he was pretty much always around. He would wink at her in the halls, find reasons to touch her in potions and just look damn good in general. Hermione was willing to bet her title as Head Girl that all he was trying to do was get into her pants, but as the days went on, she started to wonder if that was such a bad thing. The only experience she had was a jerk muggle boy who never spoke to her again and she wanted something new and better to remember. She worried that as soon as Blaise got what he was after, he wouldn't talk to her anymore and she had to admit that she liked his attention. On Monday, he had spent the day in the infirmary and Hermione had actually missed him. She was faced with the decision to give in to what she really wanted, which was him, or to stay strong and keep him at bay as long as she could until he just got bored and gave up. If she did that, then she would keep her self respect, but she wasn't even sure if it was worth it at this point. She had sworn to herself that she wasn't going to end up like one of the many slags in this school that threw themselves at Blaise, Draco and Theo because they actually wanted to be used and abused, but now she was thinking that it was time to just let her hair down and have a little fun. Well, maybe it was time for all that; the thought of being with a guy like Blaise scared the hell out of her. She would definitely have to think about it some more.

After her last class, Hermione decided to get a head start on her homework since she had the common room all to herself because the Slytherins were having a Quidditch practice. She grabbed a chair and transfigured it into a full length mirror and hung it on the wall. She set up the iPod that her parents had given her the Christmas before last and she set it on shuffle. Hermione started very simple; she made her hair purple, pink, green, blue and rainbow colored. She made it flow down to her butt, she made it as short as Harry's hair, she made it into a pixie cut, and for the final touch she made herself bald. She put her hair back to normal and set to work on her face. She changed the size of her eyes, nose, lips and chin and went into a few giggle fits at the crazy faces she came up with. She put her face back to normal and decided to play with her clothes for a while. She came up with a beautiful ball gown in blue velvet and a few more outfits that she had seen on runway shows at home. She was about to set everything back to normal when her favorite song came on. The guy was singing about sex, candy, disco lemonade and platform double suede when she had a wicked idea. She turned around and looked at the front door to make sure no one was coming in and then she turned back to the mirror and went to work. When she had finished her spell, Hermione couldn't believe the transformation. She was wearing a purple corset with black roses and a black mini skirt. The skirt stopped about an inch and a half above her mid-thigh, it was tied together at the sides and hung incredibly low on her hips, and the corset stopped just above her bellybutton and pushed her breasts up to her ears; Hermione showed less skin when she was in a bathing suit. She had gained about four inches in height with the suede platform heels and her hair was now a very dark brown, almost black and it was very curly. She wasn't a fan of the curly hair but she did like the color, so she just made it wavy in kind of an unkempt way. Hermione couldn't deny that she looked incredible; She had never looked or felt this sexy before and she loved it. Despite how great she felt at that moment, she also knew that she looked like a total slag. There was no way that she could _ever_ let _anyone_ see her dressed this way. The song that inspired her transformation had ended, so she played it again and imagined that she was in the Great Hall dressed like this and the attention of every single male was focused on her. She imagined Ron dropping to his knees and begging her to be his girlfriend, while Lavender sat in a corner crying. She also couldn't help but picture every one of the those slimy Slytherins drooling over her while she had the immense pleasure of telling them all to sod off. She knew that if she dressed like this for other people to see she would get all the attention she could handle, but she didn't want to have to change everything about who she was just to get a little male attention. This little outfit was just for fun so she could imagine that she was someone completely different and not nearly as boring as she actually was.

Hermione was so focused on her new outfit that she didn't hear the door to the common room open. The door swung open and Draco, Blaise and Theo walked in and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the girl standing twenty feet away. This was the first time that any of them had gotten a really good like at the Head Girl and she left absolutely nothing to be desired. Her legs were long and shapely and led up to a great ass. She had an amazing hour glass figure with a semi toned stomach and amazing perky breasts; she was the definition of femininity and she was a sight to be held. Hermione was running her fingers over the roses on the corset and didn't notice the three boys staring at her. She looked up at the mirror and saw them standing behind her and she gasped and spun around to face them. Their eyes were raking over her body and she suddenly felt like she was stark naked.

"Sweet mother of Merlin." Theo muttered.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you, Princess?" Blaise's eyes lingered on her breasts.

Hermione blushed and pointed the wand at herself and made the outfit vanish and she was back in her regular clothes. She decided she liked the color of her hair, so she just set it back to its normal style. She shut off her iPod and did her best to hide the deep embarrassment she felt, "I was just doing homework."

Theo elbowed Draco, "Sign me up for that class."

Draco snickered, "What class would that be; Slag 101?"

Hermione glared at Draco, "Why don't you just mind your own business?"

She huffed and left the common room, slamming the door behind her for extra emphasis.

Blaise smirked, "That was one of the hottest things I've ever seen."

This time, Theo elbowed Blaise, "You've been working on her for a month, mate. When are you going to-"

"All in good time, my friend; you can't rush these things."

Theo scoffed, "Or maybe you're just losing your touch."

Blaise smacked Theo in the back of the head, "Bite your tongue!"

"I'd rather bite hers." Theo nodded his head in the direction of the door Hermione had exited.

"Oh, I will; that's a promise."

"Well, I still think you're losing your touch; I bet I can get there before you do."

Blaise quirked his eyebrow, "Is that a fact?"

"Yes; I'll bet you 100 galleons I kiss her before you do."

"You don't stand a chance, Nott."

Theo turned to Draco who was watching the exchange with amusement, "What do you think, Drake? Do you think I can beat him to it?"

Draco chuckled, "I think you are both out of your bloody minds."

Theo grinned, "Do you want in on the action?"

"It would hardly seem fair if I joined. I am clearly better looking than the two of you, not to mention that I spend a lot more time with her than either of you; I think I'll pass."

Blaise smirked, "Neither one of you stands a chance against me." He looked back to Theo, "You're on."

The boys shook hands and Blaise turned to Draco, "You sure you don't want in on this, Drake? Now's your chance to make your little obsession a reality."

Blaise ducked before Draco could hit him, "I was drunk, Zabini." Draco growled.

Theo smirked, "Everyone knows that when a person is drunk, they tend to say things that they would never say while sober. Now's your chance to get it out of your system."

Draco rolled his eyes, "That's exactly why I'm staying out of this; if I make a move, it'll be for one reason only, then afterwards I'll still have to see her all the time and it'll get stupidly awkward and I'm perfectly content thinking about her in that little outfit while I'm giving it to some other girl."

They boys all grinned at each other and headed off to dinner.

* * *

At dinner, Hermione was deeply immersed with Ginny in conversation when Harry threw a roll at her to get her attention.

Hermione threw the roll back at him, "What?" she hissed.

Harry grinned, "The Gryffindors are having a back to school party on Friday night."

Hermione assumed he was telling her this as an invitation, "We aren't allowed to throw parties, Harry!"

Harry just rolled his eyes, "This is our last year, Hermione; you have to be there!"

"I have to patrol on Friday." Hermione replied.

"So, get someone to switch with you."

Hermione thought about the patrolling schedule for a moment and her eyes went wide. She glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw the only available person to switch schedules with her; he was eating and talking animatedly with his friends. Hermione cringed at the thought of having to ask him of all people to do her a favor.

She looked back at Harry, "I'll switch, but this had better be one hell of a party, Potter."

Harry chuckled at the use of his surname, "It will be!"

* * *

After dinner, Hermione borrowed the Marauder's Map to find the one she guy she was looking for; she spotted him making his way from the prefect's bathroom. She put the map in her pocket and set off to stop him before he was lost in the Dungeons. She caught sight of him and ran to catch up.

"Nott!" She called out.

Theo stopped and turned around; he grinned devilishly at the sight of her, "Hello love."

Hermione smiled nervously, "I was wondering if you would be willing to switch patrol shifts with me this week. Apparently the Gryffindors are having a party on Friday and they insist that I be there."

Theo was careful to keep his expression neutral, but inside he was jumping with joy; he and Blaise had made the bet only hours ago and he was about to win!

Theo smiled, "Sure, I think I can do that."

Hermione was surprised that he had agreed so quickly and she narrowed her eyes, "What do you want?"

Theo chuckled, "Clever girl."

Hermione put her hand on her hip, "Well, what do you want?"

"That's a very open ended question."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Spit it out, Nott."

Theo chuckled, "First of all, call me Theo; Nott is so impersonal. I'll take your shift on Friday and all you have to give me in return is a kiss."

Hermione blanched, "A kiss?"

"Yes; just one little kiss."

Theo wanted to kiss her? Did she really want to kiss him? Hermione wanted to roll her eyes at herself; of course she wanted to kiss him! She was dying to know what it would be like, what it would feel like to kiss one of the Slytherins. She had secretly hoped that Blaise would be the one she would get to kiss, but this option was definitely alright with her. After all, she did think that it was time for her to really start living, right?

"Alright _Theo_ , _one_ kiss."

Theo grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

Hermione suddenly lost a bit of her confidence when she saw the evil grin on his face and she shuffled her feet, "So, when do you wanna do this?"

"No time like the present."

Hermione swallowed thickly, "Alright."

Theo smiled at her and reached out to take her hand and pull her closer, "It works best if we are on the same continent, love."

Hermione let out a nervous chuckle, "Right."

Theo was thoroughly amused, "Relax; I won't bite."

The look in Theo's eyes told Hermione otherwise, but she took a calming breathe and relaxed her shoulders.

Theo smiled and brought his lips down to hers. His lips were warm and soft against hers and she closed her eyes and lost herself to the sensation. He kissed her slowly and thoroughly and she felt her knees go weak. His arms were wrapped around her waist to keep her upright and her hands were splayed across his chest. Hermione could definitely see why Theodore Nott was one of the most sought after guys in the school. When she was getting short on air, Hermione reluctantly pulled away and slowly opened her eyes. Theo was smirking down at her, looking extremely pleased with himself.

Hermione slowly pushed herself away from him and attempted to speak, "Thank you." She cleared her throat, "For switching shifts with me, that is."

Theo smiled, "Anytime, love."

Hermione felt flushed from head to toe, "Right, well I'll see you later then."

Theo kept smiling, "I imagine so."

Hermione realized that she was just standing there like an idiot, she turned around and quickly headed back to her dorm.

* * *

Blaise and Draco were sitting in the Slytherin common room with their fellow Slytherins when Theo came strutting through the door. He sat down next to Blaise and gave him a smug look.

It was annoying Blaise to no end, "What's got you in such a good mood? Did you deflower another Hufflepuff?"

"Nope; you owe me 100 galleons, Zabini."

Blaise's smirk vanished, "You're lying."

Theo broke out into a shit eating grin, "It was by far the best kiss I've had in ages."

"It doesn't count if you forced her, Nott." Draco smirked.

Theo gave Draco an indignant look, "I hardly have to force myself on anyone, Malfoy; it was pure luck actually. She needed someone to switch patrol shifts with her this week because the Gryffindorks are having a party on Friday night. I told her I'd gladly do it for a small fee."

Draco grinned, "You sly dog."

Blaise looked skeptical, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Theo looked at Draco, "Give the man peace of mind, would you?"

Draco knew what Theo was referring to and he easily entered his mind to find the memory. There it was, right in front. Hermione explaining her situation to Theo, her nervous fidgeting and finally the kiss. Draco pulled out of Theo's mind and Theo winced slightly from the intrusion.

Draco looked at Blaise, "It's true, mate."

Blaise scowled, "Bloody wanker; I'll get you the money next time we go to Hogsmeade."

Theo grinned again, "I'm almost tempted to let you keep your money; almost."

The fact that Hermione had been willing to kiss Theo in the first place told Blaise that she didn't have a rule against kissing Slytherins and so he decided that he was just going to have to kick things up a notch if he was going to get anywhere with her before Christmas.

* * *

 **I know that the scene with Hermione playing dress up was a bit cheesy, but I just couldn't resist. :)**


	4. I Feel so Untouched

_**You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the love and support! :)**_

* * *

 _I feel so untouched_ _  
_ _And I want you so much_ _  
_ _That I just can't resist you_ _  
_ _It's not enough to say that I miss you_ _  
_ _I feel so untouched right now_ _  
_ _Need you so much somehow_ _  
_ _I can't forget you_ _  
_ _Been going crazy from the moment I met you_

 _-Untouched by the Veronicas_

November rolled around and Hermione was thoroughly enjoying it; fall was her favorite season. She loved watching the trees as their leaves changed color, she loved the crisp morning air, she loved drinking spiced cider and hot chocolate while watching the snow fall outside her bedroom window, but most of all she loved the fall scented candle that always came out this time of year. As she was sitting in her common room doing her homework, she had a candle burning on the desk that smelled like Pumpkin Spice; her absolute favorite. Draco would probably pitch a fit over the smell when he came back to the room, but Hermione was willing to take the risk. She was just finishing up with her three foot essay that was due for Transfiguration in a week when the metal clasp on the bracelet that Ginny had gotten her for her birthday broke. Hermione put down her quill, grabbed her wand and quickly repaired the bracelet. As she was slipping it back onto her wrist, she though back to the party that all of her friends had thrown her for her birthday. She had gone to the Gryffindor common room for the back to school party that Harry had insisted she go to, and she had nearly had a heart attack when all her friends jumped out at her and yelled 'surprise!' The party had been a blast, and she had gotten some very nice gifts, but she couldn't help but think about the best gift she had gotten, even though the giver of the gift had had no idea that it was as such. In order to get out of patrolling on the night of her party, Hermione had had to go to Theodore Nott and ask him to switch schedules with her. He had agreed on the condition that she let him kiss her, and what a kiss it was! That one kiss had led her to think about all the other things that he was good at and all the other naughty things that he could do to her, and then _that_ made her think of his two incredibly gorgeous best friends and all the naughty things that _they_ could do to her as well. For almost a full week after the kiss had happened, she hadn't been able to look at Theo, Blaise or Draco without blushing furiously as all those dirty thoughts came rushing back to her. Blaise had quickly picked up on this and he exploited it every chance he got. He would pass her in the halls and brush up against her, or lean in real close during potions and whisper something in her ear. The tickling sensation that she always got from that would send shivers up and down her spine. She had caught herself spacing off in class as she fantasized about Blaise throwing her onto a professor's desk and ravaging her. She made sure never to be alone with him in the fear that when he made a move, which he undoubtedly would, she would lose all the self control she had left and jump on him.

Theo was a bit more subtle than his dark haired housemate, but he never made any attempts to hide just what he thought about the Head Girl. He would flirt with her whenever the opportunity presented itself, but he kept it at a PG-13 rating usually.

Draco was something entirely different. Having grown up with two teenage boys as her best friends, Hermione knew the species pretty well, and she knew that Draco found her attractive, because she saw the way he looked at when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Blaise was exotic and sexy as hell, but Draco Malfoy was...well, he was _something entirely different._ He was sexy as hell also, but he was also dangerous as hell, and as much as she tried to deny it, Hermione was incredibly turned on by the mere thought of him. Deep, deep, way deep down, a part of her wished that it had been Draco that showed her all the attention like Blaise did, but the rational part of her was very grateful that he appeared completely disinterested, because she knew that being with Draco was even more laughable than the idea of her and Blaise. Draco Malfoy was off limits; end of story.

Hermione was brought out of her reverie when she heard the door to the common room open. Draco, Blaise and Theo walked in and she couldn't stop the grin that formed when she saw all three boys sniff the air.

"Damn, that smells good." Theo said.

"It's making me hungry." Hermione noticed how Blaise was looking at her when he said that.

Draco sighed, "I wish you would keep those damn candles in your room, Granger."

Theo scoffed, "It smells a lot better than you do, you prat."

At this point, the three boys started giving each other shit and it was interrupting Hermione's study time. Without giving it a second thought, Hermione waved her hand and the room became blissfully silent. She smiled to herself and continued on with her work. After a moment, she saw from her peripheral vision that all the Slytherins were looking at her; Hermione looked up and was met with thoroughly shocked expressions. She suddenly realized what she had done and quickly grabbed her wand and reversed the spell.

"Che io sia dannato." Blaise said with a smirk. (I'll be damned.)

"Ti ha solo fare senza bacchetta, la magia non verbale?" Theo looked thoroughly impressed. (Did she just do wandless, non verbal magic?)

"Clever piccola strega, non è lei." Draco added. (Clever little witch, isn't she.)

"I'm impressed, mia bella." Blaise had recently come up with a new nickname for her. (My lovely.)

Hermione snorted in a very un-ladylike way, "Why is it so hard to believe?"

Theo cocked his head to the side as if trying to figure her out, "It's not really, I suppose. You are annoyingly smart, aren't you."

Hermione rolled her eyes; they were so full of backhanded compliments.

"Where did you learn that, Granger?" Draco asked.

Hermione smiled at them, "Books; where else? I didn't have parents to teach me."

The boys shared a look and Hermione sneered at them, "Don't even try to deny it; your looks and charm won't make people forget where you come from."

"C'è una cosa come essere troppo intelligente, Granger." Draco hissed. (There is such a thing as being too smart, Granger.)

Hermione barked out a laugh, "No one can be too smart, Malfoy. "

The boys' eyebrows shot up to their hairlines, "You understood that?" Blaise asked.

"Of course I did. I learned how to speak Italian the summer before last." Hermione smiled innocently.

The guys started to panic as they started wracking their brains trying to remember if they had ever said anything in front of her that they shouldn't have.

Hermione enjoyed the moment for a minute before she started laughing, "I'm kidding! Did you know that they actually make a potion that lets you understand and speak other languages? The stuff is bloody expensive though and it wears off in only a few hours, so don't worry; soon you will be able to talk about me again without my knowledge."

"You took a potion so that you could understand us?" Theo smirked.

"No, ho preso una pozione così che ho potuto pasticciare con voi." Hermione said in perfect Italian. (No, I took a potion so that I could mess with you.)

Blaise's eyes flashed as he listened to Hermione speak in his native tongue, "Che è così caldo." (That's so hot.)

Hermione was having so much with her small triumph that she couldn't resist adding to the fire, "Sareste sorpresi alle cose che posso fare." She gave Blaise her best smoldering look and he let out a small growl. (You'd be amazed at the things I can do.)

She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

Theo rolled his eyes, "For the love of Merlin; why don't you two just shag already and get it over with?"

Hermione broke eye contact with Blaise and blushed. She grabbed her essay off the desk and headed for her room, "Ci vediamo più tardi ragazzi." (I'll see you boys/guys later.)

She disappeared into her room and the door closed with a soft 'click.'

* * *

Later that night as Hermione was getting ready for bed, she remembered that had left her candle in the common room. She wouldn't put it past Draco to toss it just to be a git, so she decided to grab it before he noticed it was still there. When she opened her door, she saw Draco standing by the fire, stirring the embers. His back was to her and he was only wearing a pair of black sleep pants, so she could see his well defined back muscles; it was beyond her how a seventeen year old could have a body like that. Draco turned around and Hermione was just as awestruck with his chest and didn't even notice that he was looking at her.

Draco quirked a brow, "Alright there, Granger?"

Hermione heard her name and she looked up at him and blinked a few times to bring herself back to reality and then she blushed when she realized that he had caught her staring at him.

She quickly looked down at the ground, "Candle; I came to get my candle."

Draco smirked, "Is that right?"

She saw that he was enjoying himself at her expense and she scowled at him, "Yes; I knew that if I left it out here, you'd probably throw it away just to be a git."

"Well, are you going to get it, or just continue to stand there and ogle me?"

Hermione blushed again and crossed her arms over her chest, "I was not ogling you, Malfoy." She said indignantly.

"You're a bad liar, Princess." He murmured in a husky tone.

Hermione saw that he was blatantly checking her out in her purple polka dot sleep shorts and tank top and she flushed; her sleep attire didn't leave much to the imagination. His eyes had darkened a bit and warning bells went off in her head.

' _Off limits, Hermione; he's off limits!'_ Her mind kept telling her.

Hermione quickly grabbed her candle and disappeared back into her room.

* * *

After her last class the next day, Hermione had gone to her common room to read for a while before dinner. She had stripped off most of her uniform, except for her skirt and blouse and was sitting on the couch with her legs curled beside her as she read one of her favorite books. When she portrait door opened, she assumed it was Draco, so she didn't bother looking up until she felt someone sit down rather close beside her.

She looked up and couldn't stop the smile, "Blaise."

He returned her smile, "Princess."

"Are you looking for Malfoy?"

"I was."

"He had a meeting with Snape about something."

"Well, that gives us a chance to-talk-for awhile." Blaise gave her his best smile and she smirked at him.

"When was the last time that you were around a girl just to _talk_?"

"Milicent Bulstrode at lunch; she got into an argument with Pansy and decided that she'd rather sit with me. Have you ever seen the girl eat? She's like a female version of Crabbe."

Hermione laughed, "Ok Blaise, what would you like to talk about?"

Blaise thought for a moment and then looked at her book, "What are you reading?"

She held up the book, "Of Mice and Men; That's a good book."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow, "You've read it?"

"Several times; The Grapes of Wrath is my favorite though."

The look on Hermione's face made him laugh, 'What?"

"I just can't believe that you know a muggle author."

"I know several."

"Do your friends know that you like to dip into Muggle books?"

"Of course they do; I don't care what people think of me, Hermione."

She loved the way her name rolled off his tongue.

Blaise reached over and took the book from her and set it on the coffee table and then grabbed one of her legs and stretched it out over his legs and started rubbing her foot. Hermione closed her eyes and laid her head on the back of the couch; the man had magic fingers. After a few moments, Hermione raised her head and looked at him.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Blaise hit a particularly sensitive spot on her foot and Hermione had to stifle the moan that was threatening to come out.

"Why are you wasting so much time on me?"

Blaise stopped his ministrations and looked at her, "Who said it was a waste?"

"I've seen the girls that throw themselves at you on a daily basis; compared to all of them, I'm a waste. Are you just doing all this because I'm the only girl who hasn't thrown herself at you yet?"

Blaise laughed, "You are comparing yourself to the slags of this school? They've got nothing on you, Princess."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled her foot out of his reach, "I'm serious Blaise; you could have your pick of anyone in this school. I'm not going to sleep with you, so if that's the only reason why you are putting so much time and effort into getting on my good side, then you might as well just stop wasting both our times."

A hardened look crossed Blaise's features, "I really don't think that you know me well enough to judge me like that, Granger."

Hermione flinched at the sound of her surname coming from his lips, "Well, am I wrong? You have this reputation, Blaise; you have all of these amazing qualities, and I would hate to think that you really are that big of a jerk, but your reputation in the bedroom precedes you, yet I don't recall you ever having a girlfriend. Then there's me, the annoying, insufferable, know-it-all, disgusting Mudblood prude of Gryffindor who couldn't get a guy's attention even if I came with the latest edition of the Firebolt as a free gift! What on Earth would someone like you, or Malfoy, or Nott want with me other than as a notch on your bedposts?!"

Hermione was now crying and she angrily wiped the tears away.

The look on Blaise's face softened, "Yes, I can get any girl I want; no, I don't do the whole girlfriend thing, but I've never just used a girl for my own personal entertainment and then thrown her away; every girl I've ever been with has known exactly what she was getting herself into. As for you, you don't have a clue about what I really think of you, so let me tell you. You are brilliant, kind, loyal, beautiful, stubborn as hell, incredibly sexy and incredibly frustrating. I've been trying to make some kind progress with you for two months now and you won't budge!"

Hermione was trying to keep the tears at bay, "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Yes, I do; how could _you_ not?"

Hermione kicked the couch cushion, "Because I'm not! I'm seventeen years old and I've never had a boyfriend! Viktor Krum dumped me when I wouldn't sleep with him, Ron passed me up for the biggest slag in this school and my 'summer fling' never spoke to me again after I gave him my virginity! If I'm so amazing, then why the fuck am I invisible!?" Hermione knew that she was probably being a bit over dramatic, but she couldn't help but think that the attention she was getting from the Slytherins was just because they were bored, and looking for some cheap entertainment.

There was anger, sadness and loneliness in her eyes and Blaise was completely baffled at how she couldn't see how amazing she was, and he and his friends were most definitely _not_ the only ones who had noticed. He decided that the time for talking was over; he grabbed Hermione's tie and pulled her to him, "I assure you, princess; you are _not_ invisible." He murmured as he brought her lips to his; his lips moved over hers and Hermione gasped. Blaise smiled and took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her hot mouth. His tongue stroked hers, trying to coax a response out of her. Hermione slowly began to respond, her tongue moving over his. Blaise sucked her tongue into his mouth and played with it for a minute before following it back to her mouth. Hermione let out a cross between a whimper and a moan and Blaise instantly became hard. Blaise situated Hermione's legs so that they were on either side of him and he gently pushed her down onto the couch with his body as he continued his assault on her mouth. Hermione felt as though her body was on fire as Blaise snogged her senseless. Kissing Blaise was better than she could have ever imagined and she cursed herself for not doing it sooner. Hermione reached up and ran one of her hands through his hair as her other hand went to his back and pulled him down so he was flush against her. Desperate for the contact, Blaise ground his arousal against Hermione's inner thigh and she broke the kiss and let out the most erotic sound he had ever heard. His lips moved to to the sensitive spot just under her ear and he began nipping at sucking, making his way down her neck, across her pulse point, over her collarbone, and down to the swell of her breasts that were heaving with every erratic breathe she took as he left scorching kisses all along her skin. Hermione grabbed Blaise's shirt and untucked it so she could slip her hands underneath and run them along the well defined muscles of his chest and stomach. She had been dying to touch him, any part of him that she could get her hands on, and he felt even better than she thought he would, if that were possible. She raked her fingernails across the ridges of his stomach and Blaise hissed at the sensation. Hermione smirked and gently tugged on his hair, forcing him back to her mouth. This time, she was not shy in the slightest and her tongue dominated his. Hermione was getting more and more aroused by the second as his fingers traced featherlight touches along her skin. As her resolve to refuse to let him get into her knickers quickly began to fade with every kiss and touch, she also got more daring. She ran her hand further down his stomach until she was at the hem of his pants and she could feel the soft, baby fine hairs that began just below his belly button. Deciding that his pants were way too tight, she quickly undid his belt buckle so she could dip her hand into his pants as she traced her fingertips along the 'V' shape that led to his now rock hard member. She couldn't believe that she was being so bold, but all she knew was that it felt damn good.

Blaise broke their kiss and groaned, "Christ Hermione, you're gonna kill me."

That was the first time that Blaise had ever used Hermione's given name rather than a nickname and she absolutely loved it. He started trailing kisses down Hermione's throat and collarbone and quickly unbuttoned her shirt with his skilled fingers and he brushed the fabric aside to reveal a burgundy colored lacey bra. He dipped his tongue just under the edge of her bra and Hermione whimpered and arched her back a bit. He trailed his tongue down her smooth, flat stomach, dipped it into her bellybutton and down to the hem of her skirt. There were two large buttons on the side of her skirt, and in one swift movement, Blaise unfastened them and threw the material aside to see a pair of knickers to match her bra. Blaise paused for a moment to admire her amazing body and she couldn't help but blush under his intense gaze. Blaise smirked at her and dipped his head back down to continue the assault with his tongue. Hermione couldn't help but think of her first night back at school when Blaise had 'offered' to show her what his tongue could do. She recalled thinking that that was never going to happen and now here she was, coming apart at the seems because of his glorious tongue. Blaise ran his tongue down her stomach again and when he got to her kickers, he raked his hands across her smooth skin sending shivers down her spine and he moved the fabric of her knickers down just a millimeter and placed a featherlight kiss on the newly exposed skin, then he repeated the process two more times and Hermione moaned when she felt his tongue dip just under the hem of her knickers and she was sure that if he went any lower, she would come undone. Blaise moved to her inner thigh and grazed his nose from the top down to her knee, nipping and kissing here and there. He was reeking havoc on Hermione's senses and she was quickly losing control. She grabbed the collar of Blaise's shirt and hauled him back up to her and she crashed her lips onto his. She used both hands to rake her nails all the way down his stomach and Blaise shuddered. Just as she got her fingers on the button of his pants, the door to the common room opened and Draco and Theo came in. They both stopped dead in their tracks at the sight in front of them; The Head Girl lying on the couch in nothing but her knickers, with disheveled hair, flushed skin and very swollen lips, and their best mate hovering above her with his belt undone and shirt hanging open. Hermione whipped her head towards the intruders and blushed ten shades darker than usual while Blaise just groaned and buried his head in the crook of her neck in annoyance. Blaise sat up and grabbed a blanket that was lying across the back of the couch to cover up the thoroughly humiliated Head Girl. She moved out from under Blaise, wrapped the blanket around herself, grabbed her discarded clothes and booked it into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Blaise sat back on the couch and raked a hand though his hair, "Ottimo tempismo, stronzi." he growled, not even bothering to fix his clothes. (Excellent timing, fuckers.)

Theo looked at Blaise's chest and grinned, "Are those scratch marks?"


	5. You Crossed my Mind

**_I didn't change hardly anything in this chapter; it's all Blaise and Hermione. This is where their relationship "takes the next step," and I didn't want to take away from it with adding Draco goodness...but it's coming soon! :)_**

* * *

 _Shout when you wanna get off the ride_ _  
_ _'Cause you crossed my mind_ _  
_ _You crossed my mind_ _  
_ _Made my blood thump 7-8-9._ _  
_ _Make my heart beat double time_

 _-Sour Cherry by The Kills_

Blaise shot scathing looks at his two best friends as he fixed his belt and buttoned up his shirt, then grabbed a pillow and put it in his lap. Draco and Theo sat down in the armchairs opposite him and continued to just look at him while smirking, waiting for him to say something.

"What?" Blaise barked.

Theo chuckled, "A little frustrated, mate?"

Blaise grabbed the other pillow and threw it at Theo's head, "Two months; I've been working on her for two bloody months and you wankers had to come in and fuck it all up."

"Hey," Draco protested, "this is _my_ common room. You should have gone somewhere else if you didn't want to be interrupted."

"I would have if I had know it was going to happen! As it is, it'll probably take me another two months to get that far again."

Theo grinned, "I don't know, she looked like she was very into it; it'll probably only take another few weeks or so."

Draco looked at the couch with disgust, "On a couch that I use on a daily basis; really, Blaise?"

* * *

In her room, Hermione was freaking out; she had been caught practically shagging Blaise Zabini but Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott! She was never going to be able to face any of them ever again! Ok, well maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but not much!

How mortifying.

Holy shit, she had almost shagged Blaise Zabini; if those prats hadn't interrupted them, she would be shagging him right this very moment.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

The man definitely knew what he was doing, and she definitely was enjoying it, but did she really want sleep with him; did she really want to risk her reputation? Blaise might be a player, but she couldn't keep leading him on like she was. After what happened in the common room, she needed to make a decision once and for all; either shag him and be done with it, or tell him it's never going happen and then leave it at that; she wasn't a tease. The question was, what did she want to do? She new what she was leading towards, but she wasn't sure if she should do it. She needed a second opinion; a completely unbiased person who would tell her the truth and also look out for her. She needed to talk to Ginny. Ginny knew about Hermione's conflicted feelings towards Blaise and she would be able to give her good advice about the whole bloody situation. Hermione went and listened through the door and heard the three Slytherins talking and she frowned; how was she going to get out of the common room without them seeing her?

She wasn't.

Hermione choked out a small cry of embarrassment and went to her dresser to find something to wear. She pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt. She got dressed, threw on a pair of sneakers, and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, hiding as best as she could. She grabbed her wand and slowly walked to her door. She took a deep breath and pulled it open, stepping out into the common room. She refused to look at anyone as she hastily made her way to towards the door, but stopped when she heard Theo's voice.

"Hey Granger, is that outfit supposed to turn us off? Since the image of you in your knickers will be forever seared into our brains, I don't think that's going to work."

Hermione spun around and looked at him defiantly, "I will rip off your bits with my bare hands and feed them to my cat, Nott."

Theo winked at her and she glared at him; she saw Draco smirking at her and she shot him a glare for good measure. She dared to look at Blaise and he was looking at her like he wanted to swallow her whole. She was still very aroused from earlier and still very unsatisfied and her brain went to the forbidden place where she was imagining all three of them wreaking blissful havoc on her body and she shut her eyes and clenched her teeth in frustration.

"I'm in so much trouble." She mumbled.

"What was that?" Theo asked.

She growled at him and yanked the portrait door open and slammed it behind her.

Theo grinned at the door, "It is so much fun to rile her up."

Blaise picked up one of Hermione's shoes that she had discarded by the couch and threw it at him, "If you fuck up my chances Nott, I'll kill you myself; I've only just begun with her."

Theo picked up the shoe and threw it back at him, "What's so great about this girl, Zabini? I've never seen you work so hard for a piece of ass in my life."

Blaise rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands in frustration, "Fuck if I know, man; maybe that's all it is. I've never had to work so bloody hard for a shag in my life and it's finally starting to make me lose my shit."

"No, I don't think that's it." Draco said, "You could easily find a replacement, but you don't."

"There's just something about this girl; she's not like anyone I've met."

His mate's looked at him like he'd grown a second head and Blaise smirked, "I'm not falling for her, or anything like that. You guys know that I don't do the whole girlfriend thing; too much bloody work."

"Then what is it?" Theo asked.

"I don't know. Who knows; maybe after I _successfully_ get into her knickers, the feeling will go away and I'll be able to get on with my life."

Draco wasn't about to admit it, but he knew exactly what Blaise was talking about. There was something about the intoxicating Head Girl that just got under your skin and refused to go away no matter how many slags you shared a bed, desk, couch, floor or wall with.

* * *

Hermione made her way to her old common room and instantly sought out Ginny. She was sitting on the couch talking to some of her friends when she looked up and saw Hermione's disheveled appearance. She excused herself from the group and went over to her.

"Are you alright? You look a mess."

"I need to talk to you; can we go outside?"

"Sure, just let me go get my jacket."

She disappeared up the stairs and Hermione saw Harry and Ron playing a game of Exploding Snap with some other people. They tried to wave her over, but she just waved and mouthed 'later' to them as Ginny came back down the stairs. The boys shrugged their shoulders and returned to their game while Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and led her out of the room. They made their way towards the Quidditch pitch while Hermione told Ginny about everything that had happened earlier, including when Draco and Theo had walked in on them.

When she finished the story, Ginny stopped walking and smiled, "Damn Hermione, I didn't know you had it in you."

Hermione scowled, "That's just it; I _didn't_ have it in me, or anything else for that matter!"

Hermione blushed slightly at her own comment.

Ginny laughed, "Does that bother you? It sounds to me like you want my advice."

"I do; I don't know what to do, Gin!"

"Well, it sounds like you know what you want, you just aren't sure if you should do it. Do you know what you want?"

Hermione thought back to the feeling of Blaise's hands, mouth and tongue on her body and she felt herself get hot; yes, she definitely knew what she wanted.

"Yes, I know what I want."

"Then go for it." Ginny said it as though it were the obvious answer.

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't be here right now, Ginny!" Hermione scowled.

"It _is_ easy, Hermione; you're just making it hard."

"What if he tells people about us; what if they start to think that I'm a slag; what if he never talks to me again?"

"Hermione, when you graduate from this place, you will probably never see most of these people again, especially the snaky Slytherins. Who cares what any of these bloody tossers think? If this is what you want, then you should go for it. Let your hair down, forget about my imbecile brother and just. Have. Some. Fun; you deserve it!"

Hermione smiled at her friend, "What would you do if you were me?"

"You mean, would I shag Blaise Zabini if I had the chance? If given the chance, I'd lock him in the Room of Requirement until we were _both_ thoroughly sated." Ginny grinned mischievously at Hermione and she laughed.

"Well, after this afternoon, he's probably given up on me and moved on to someone else."

Ginny thought for a moment and then grinned, "I know how you can 'peak' his interest again. Guys are so easy, it's really quite simple. We'll plan it for lunch tomorrow; when you do what I show you, he will be putty in your hands."

* * *

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon with her friends and she didn't dare glance at the Slytherin table during dinner; she needed some Slytherin free time to get her head straight. After dinner, she spent the rest of the evening in the Gryffindor common room doing her homework and helping Harry and Ron with theirs, of course. Around eleven, Hermione headed back to her common room. She knew that Draco was patrolling tonight, so she wouldn't have to worry about running in to him. She got back to her room and grabbed her towel so she could take a shower before bed. When she opened the door, she was met with steam and a very naked Head Boy. There wasn't nearly enough steam in the room to keep her from seeing him in all his glory, and it was all definitely glorious.

"My eyes are up here, Granger."

Her eyes had lingered a bit too long on his most prized possession and she jumped at the sound of his voice, blushed and turned her head towards the wall, "I-I-you-what are you doing here!?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You are supposed to be patrolling!"

"Theo asked me to switch shifts with him; he has a hot date tomorrow night."

"Oh." She kept her eyes glued to the wall.

Draco grabbed his towel off the counter and wrapped it around his waist, "Tell me something Granger, are you becoming a Slytherin groupie?"

She jerked her head towards him, "Excuse me?"

"Well, first Theo, then Blaise, and now here you are staring a bit too hard at my manly attributes."

Hermione glared at him, "Nott blackmailed me into kissing him and you aren't even supposed to be here right now!"

Draco smirked, "Didn't stop you from staring, did it?"

"Kind of like how you're staring at my chest right now?"

When she got back to her room, she'd taken off her sweatshirt and now she just had on a tank top that fit her form rather well.

Draco didn't seem the least bit embarrassed, "I'm a guy; it's what we do."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "That's the worst excuse I've ever heard. If you're done in here, I'd like my turn now, please."

Draco let his eyes linger on her form for a moment before he went back to his room. Hermione quickly locked the door and then allowed herself to take a deep breath; what the hell was it with her and Slytherin men, and what the hell was up with all of them being so well...put together!? For the first time in her life, Hermione wished that she hadn't been made Head Girl. If she hadn't been made Head Girl, she never would have had to share a dorm with Draco Malfoy and she certainly never would have gotten as close to him and his best friends as she had these past two months.

What was that American saying about good girls loving bad boys?

* * *

The next day, Hermione kept getting more nervous as it got closer to lunch. During breakfast, Ginny had gone over everything that she wanted Hermione to do in order to get Blaise's attention again, assuming she had even lost it. After the way he had been looking at her all day, she thought it was safe to say that she still most definitely had his attention. Lunch rolled around and Hermione was sitting next to Ginny, facing the Slytherin table. Hermione didn't know the first thing about seducing a boy, so she had to get a few pointers from Ginny. Ginny had a major sweet tooth so she always carried candy in her bag and she grinned devilishly as she pulled a lollipop out and handed it over to Hermione.

Hermione took the sucker and looked at Ginny, "A lollipop?"

"Yes! First, you have to get Zabini's attention; then you _slowly_ start licking and sucking on the lollipop. Once you have his attention, then you keep it. After that, you casually make your way out of the room and if you did it right, then he'll follow you and then the rest is all you!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You make it sound so easy!"

Ginny smiled, "It _is_ easy! When he sees you assaulting the sucker, he's going to imagine your mouth and tongue assaulting...other things. He's a teenage boy; that's _always_ on their minds. Now, unwrap the lollipop and then try to get his attention; look at him or something."

Hermione unwrapped the candy and then sneaked a glance over at the Slytherin table. Blaise was facing her, talking to his housemates and Hermione just kept her eyes on him, hoping that he would look up. Sure enough, after a few moments, Blaise felt someone watching him and he looked up and caught Hermione's eyes.

Ginny grinned and leaned over, "Good; now give him a little smirk and slowly put the lollipop in your mouth."

Hermione did as instructed and she saw Blaise's eyes flash as he watched her assault the lollipop. Ginny instructed her how to use the lollipop and to break eye contact occasionally and pretend like she was just enjoying a sweet treat and not actually trying to seduce a Slytherin. Every time she looked back at Blaise, his eyes were still locked on her mouth.

Ginny leaned towards Hermione and whispered, "Ok, I think you've got him right where you want him. Now, get up and give him a little flirty smile and then walk out of the room."

"What do I do after that?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I can't tell you how to do _everything_ Hermione! Go find an empty classroom or something. You can do this!"

Hermione took a deep breath, dropped the lollipop on her plate and then stood up and grabbed her bag. She cast one more glance at Blaise and then headed out of the room. To Ginny's delight, Blaise got up and followed Hermione out of the room.

* * *

Hermione felt like her stomach was being eaten by the thousands of butterflies that were in there and she tried to shake off the nerves. She found an empty classroom and stood outside it, waiting to see if Blaise would appear. To her sheer joy and excitement, Blaise came out Great Hall and caught her eyes. She disappeared into the empty classroom and then tried to calm down as she was petrified about what was probably about to happen. She wanted this; she was sure of it. She just had no idea how to go about it. She tossed her bag onto the floor, hastily undid the top two buttons of her blouse, and shimmied out of her underwear, held them in her hand and hid behind the door. She saw the door open and Blaise walked in. He walked towards the desk and looked around the room. He spun around when he saw Hermione's shadow and she smiled shyly at him.

"I've been fighting this...thing that's been going on between us since school started. I know that you're probably just in it for a good shag, but..well, I don't know how good I'm going to be, but still."

She had been looking at the floor the whole time she was talking and now she looked up at Blaise; he was looking at her with an amused expression. She took a deep breath and walked towards him slowly, "I know all the reasons why I shouldn't do this, but the reasons why I want to out weigh the others."

She reached out and put something in Blaise's pocket and then walked over to the door and put a locking spell on it and then muttered a silencing spell, as well as a contraceptive spell. Blaise stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out Hermione's knickers. His eyes immediately darkened and he started walking towards her. She was leaning against the door now and was making a tremendous effort at staying calm. He stopped inches away from her and just looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. Taking the initiative, Hermione leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back hungrily and when she reached down and started fumbling with the button on his pants, Blaise's mind swam into focus as he realized that she was serious. His hands flew down to his pants to finish the job and he then he lifted one of her legs up and hooked it over his hip. He freed himself from the confines of his pants and with one quick thrust, he was inside her; after being interrupted yesterday, there simply wasn't time for foreplay. Hermione gasped and threw her head back, smacking it on the door. She didn't even register the pain because she was completely lost in the sensation that Blaise was giving her. He brought her other leg up and she wrapped it around his waist also; her legs had turned to jelly and she wouldn't have been able to stay standing anyway. He kept kissing her feverishly, their tongues battling for dominance, as he kept pumping into her. He hit a particularly sensitive spot and Hermione whimpered into his mouth. Her sounds were driving him crazy, so he grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto him at the same time as he began thrusting up more forcefully. Hermione broke their kiss and let out a loud moan as Blaise kept hitting the perfect spot over and over. She grabbed onto a nearby bookshelf with one hand for support and fisted Blaise's hair in her other hand as he literally shagged her senseless. She could feel the pressure start to build inside her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and ravaged his mouth as his movements became more erratic. Hermione let out a ragged, "Oh, God," as an Earth shattering release claimed her body; Blaise followed closely behind and let go with a shout. After they both had come back to reality, Blaise set her back down on the ground and helped her fix her clothes before fixing his own. He cast a quick scourgify on them both and picked up her bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Hermione murmured.

Blaise smirked at her, "Thank _you_."

Hermione blushed and Blaise chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

He grabbed his own bag and slung it over his shoulder as he released the locking and silencing charms, "See you later, princess."

Then he was though the door and on his way back to the Great Hall.


	6. Everybody Talks

**_Two chapters in one week...yay me!_**

* * *

 _It started with a whisper_ _  
_ _And that was when I kissed her_ _  
_ _And then she made my lips hurt_ _  
_ _I can't even chitchat_ _  
_ _Take me to your love shack_ _  
_ _Mamas always gotta backtrack_ _  
_ _When everybody talks_

 _-Everybody Talks by Neon Trees_

After leaving the classroom, Hermione decided that she couldn't go back to the Great Hall, so she decided to spend the rest of the lunch period in the library. She grabbed a seat way in the back, pulled out her potions book and attempted to work on her homework. She got to the third word of the first sentence when her mind drifted back to her 'experience' in the classroom; it had been intense, frantic and hot. She was really hoping that Blaise wasn't the kind of guy who shagged a girl, told everyone about it and then never spoke to her again, but she'd decided that if he was, it had been so worth it. She only had one other experience to compare this to, but she had a feeling that she would never forget this one; even twenty years down the road. She would never give Blaise's big ego the satisfaction of knowing that she definitely wanted to do it again if she had the chance, but she wasn't going to hold her breath; it was what it was. Hermione was attempting to read the same sentence for the tenth time when the library doors opened and she saw Ginny come though. She immediately found Hermione and came rushing over, plopping into the seat next to her.

"I knew you would be in here!" Ginny gave her a knowing look.

Hermione smiled, "I'm always in here, aren't I?"

"So..."

Hermione feigned ignorance, "So...what?"

Ginny growled, "You know what!? Did you...do it?"

Hermione smirked and Ginny squealed, "Yay! I'm so happy for you!"

Hermione looked around the room and shushed her friend, "Not so loud!"

Ginny ignored her, "So, how was it?"

"It was intense; I'm going to have to remember to thank Malfoy and Nott for interrupting us last night." Hermione gushed.

"Well, I already knew it had happened before I got here; Zabini had a very satisfied smirk on his face when he sauntered back into the Great Hall."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Here we go; I can just bet that I"m going to be the newest school slag by the end of day. He's probably telling everyone in Slytherin about our little tryst as we speak. Oh well, it is what it is."

Ginny arched a brow, "Really; it doesn't bother you?"

"Well, of course it does, but what can I do about it? I don't regret doing it and everyone else can just mind their own bloody business."

Ginny grinned, "That's my girl!"

Hermione smiled, "Well, you did give me some good advice I guess."

"Yes, I did." Ginny stated.

Hermione looked at her watch and sighed, "I guess we should get going."

Ginny frowned, "Well, we _are_ going to continue this later."

"Sure thing." Hermione shoved everything back into her bag and followed her friend out the door.

* * *

As soon as Blaise sauntered up to their table, Draco and Theo knew something was up. He had much more pep in his step than he had when lunch had started, not to mention the way too cocky look he had on his face.

He sat down and they turned their attention to him, "So, what's her name?" Theo asked.

Blaise grabbed an apple and took a bite, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Theo punched his arm, "Bullshit you don't; finally got tired of waiting for the princess, did you?"

Blaise winked at him and took another bite.

Theo's mouth dropped, "Col cazzo." (No fucking way.)

Draco rolled his eyes, "He's just messing with you, Theo. There's no way that she would sneak off with you in the middle of the school day for a quickie. Have you forgotten who we're talking about?"

Blaise smirked, "Things change, mate."

Draco dropped his jaw also, "Beh, che io sia dannato. Non sapevo che aveva in lei." (Well, I'll be damned. I didn't know she had it in her.)

Blaise wiggled his eyebrows, "Oh, she had it in her alright."

Theo snickered, "So, how was it?"

"Bloody brilliant; she definitely has potential."

"So, this wasn't just a one off then?"

"No, definitely not. Like I said before, I've only just begun with the little leone." (Lion)

"So that's why she was sucking off that damn lollipop; she was trying to get your attention." Draco remembered the scene earlier and thought that she must have been completely oblivious to the fact that the entire male population was watching that little stunt.

Blaise snickered, "You saw that, did you?"

"We all saw that, mate. She's a bloody natural." Theo grinned.

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the three Slytherins groaned as they grabbed their bags and traipsed off to their next class.

* * *

After school, Hermione went back to her common room to drop off her bag and change her clothes. When she went back into the common room, she saw that it was a complete mess; there were books, parchment and quills strewn all over the place. Huffing at the mess, Hermione began to clean up. Since everything seemed to belong to Draco, Hermione stacked all of his belongings in front of his door and then she began putting the books away; one thing she couldn't stand was a messy room. The last available spot in the book shelf was on the top shelf and she reached and stretched as much as she could, but she couldn't reach it. She was about ready to give up and throw the book at Draco next time she saw him when she saw a hand reach up behind her, grab the book, and easily put it away.

She jumped at the newcomer, "Honestly Malfoy, did your mother never teach you to clean up after yourself?"

She turned around to continue to verbally berate him, but she sucked in a breath when she saw who it really was, "Blaise."

"Draco's always had house elves to clean up after him." he smiled.

Hermione tried to ignore their close proximity, "Well, I'm not going to be one of them. Um, what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, actually."

Hermione cocked her head to the side, "Really?"

Blaise chuckled, "You seem surprised."

"Well, I am. I thought that after what happened earlier, you'd be-"

"You thought that I'd be done with you?"

"Well, yeah. It is a widely known fact that you don't have girlfriends."

Blaise smirked, "Yet knowing that, you still sought me out today?"

Hermione blushed, "Well, we did have unfinished business after last night, didn't we? I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a tease."

Blaise stepped closer to her and closed the space between them, "Is that the only reason why you did it? Because you thought you owed it to me?"

"No, I did it because I wanted to." Hermione blushed.

Blaise smiled as he wrapped his hands around her waist, skimming the skin under her shirt, causing Hermione to shudder, "Good, because I did too. As a matter of fact, I want to do it again," he leaned down and kissed the sensitive skin just under her ear, "and again," he moved to her throat as she tilted her head back to lean against the bookcase to give him better access, "and again." He nipped at her collarbone and then kissed it.

Hermione could feel her insides starting to ignite, "With me?" She asked, barely in a whisper.

Blaise grinned, "Yes, with you, mia bella." (My lovely)

She blushed again and Blaise swooped down and kissed her, stealing her breath. She had no idea why Blaise Zabini of all people seemed to want her so much, but she was going to stop obsessing about it and just enjoy it; for whatever reason, he wanted her, and she most _definitely_ wanted him to. She brought her hands up to tangle in his beautiful hair as she pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Once again, they were so caught up in each other, neither one of them heard the door to the common room open.

"Christ, you two; just get a room already!"

Theo's voice brought the two horny teenagers back to Earth and Hermione untangled herself from Blaise and blushed. Theo was smirking at them, and Draco was giving them a look that she couldn't decipher. Blaise, however, knew exactly what that look was; a look of pure jealously.

Hermione remembered that she had had to clean up after him and she scowled at him, "Malfoy, I am not your bloody maid; clean up after yourself!" She pointed to the pile of his belongings that were sitting by his bedroom door.

Draco gave Hermione a once over and smirked,, "Are you sure you don't want to be my maid? You could get one of those little french maid uniforms."

Blaise quirked an eyebrow, "Hmm, I like the sound of that."

Theo grinned wickedly, "Yes, please; you can get one for that little red headed friend of yours as well."

They all turned to look at Theo and he smiled impishly, "You two in your little maid outfits would star in my dreams for weeks."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Goodnight boys."

All three Slytherins watched the sway of her hips as she left the room.

When she was gone, Blaise turned his attention to his blond friend, "You aren't very subtle, you know."

Draco sighed, "What are you talking about?"

"I saw the look on your face when you got here, Draco; you were jealous."

Draco groaned, "Not this again, Blaise!"

"It's getting more and more obvious that you have a thing for our favorite Gryffindor; it was bound to happen with you two living in such close quarters."

"He's right, mate." Theo added.

Draco glared at Blaise, "Alright, let's say you two wankers are right and I'm finally ready to admit it to her. Would you step aside and let me have her?"

Blaise didn't hesitate, "Absolutely."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Really."

"In a heartbeat; I'll admit that I would be sad to end things, but I will never let a female come between me and my friends; now matter how addicting she is."

Draco desperately wanted to be pissed at the fact that Blaise was getting to live out his own fantasies with his own dream girl, rather than himself, but Blaise was right; no female was worth losing the best friendships he'd ever had.

Draco sighed dramatically, "Have at it, mate. If I can't have her, at least she'd not giving it up to Weasley."

Theo snorted, "That git wouldn't know what to do with her, if he _did_ have her. I'm telling you; the only good thing that came out of that whole family is Little Red."

Blaise chuckled, "Since when do you have a thing for her?"

Theo wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.

"You know, _you_ are the only one who seems to think that you can't have her." Blaise said to Draco.

Draco frowned, "I know enough to know that if she were able to look past all of the shit that I put her through these past years, and the fact that I'm a Death Eater and give me a chance, I'd never be able to let her go, and It's too dangerous for her to be a part of my world."

Theo smiled, "Are you _finally_ admitting that you like her?'

Draco growled, "That's not the point, Theo! I've been infatuated with this woman since she slugged me in our third and it's just gotten worse since school started. I've been shagging every slag that so much as bats her bloody eyelashes at me in an attempt to get Granger out of my damn head."

Blaise smirked, "How's that working for you, mate?"

"It's not!" Draco barked.

"Just say the word and I'll back off." Blaise said.

"I'm not worried about what will happen to her if she's with you. She's better off with you than she would ever be with me; she wouldn't be safe with me. I still maintain the fact that if we were to get together, one of us would kill the other because she's so infuriating. And we can't forget the fact that the war is coming and the three of us could be called away at any moment. If my father ever found out that I was in love with Harry fucking Potter's best friend, he'd kill me on the spot."

Draco's face was red when he finished his rant.

Theo and Blaise both looked at Draco like he'd grown a second head, "You're in love with her?" They chorused.

Draco glowered at his best friends, effectively ending that conversation.

Draco ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "I'm done; I can't do this right now. I'll see you guys later."

Draco didn't wait for a response as he went to his room and slammed his door behind him.

Blaise and Theo just stood there and looked at his door for a moment.

Theo finally spoke up, "I've gotta say; I didn't see that coming."

Blaise kept looking at Draco's door, "Yeah, me neither."

Theo grinned, "Since he seems to be done for the evening, let's go loiter in the halls and mess with Peeve's."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "How old are you?"

"It's either that or we go back to Slytherin and have Parkinson hang all over us."

Blaise gestured towards the door, "Let's go find Peeves."

* * *

Draco slammed his door shut and then put a silencing charm on the room so that his friends wouldn't hear the tantrum he was about to throw. He punched the wall, shoved things off his dresser, knocked over his dresser, kicked the bed and then threw one of his shoes at the mirror, shattering it to bits. How could he be so damn stupid and let it slip that he was in love with her!? He knew Blaise and Theo knew about his feelings for the Head Girl to an extent, but he had been so careful to hide the rest of it, and in one fell swoop, it was all out.

Blood fucking hell.

Draco had no idea where his infatuation with the brilliant Gryffindor had come from, but it had just sneaked up on him out of nowhere and had gotten worse as the years wore on. He hid his feelings with sneers, sarcasm and insults, but inside he was dying to be the one to make her smile, make her laugh, touch her beautiful, soft skin, feel her lips on his; he was dying to trade places with Blaise. That would never be an option, though; his future was written in stone, and there was no way that Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter could ever be a part of it.

He didn't blame Blaise for making a move on her, but it still pissed him off to see what he was knew that everything that Blaise was getting from her, psychically or otherwise, could have been his if he hadn't been such a wanker to her all these years. It was the best defense mechanism he had though; that was the only way that he could be sure that she would be out of his life and out of danger.

Draco finished throwing his tantrum, threw himself on his bed like a true five year old, and stayed there for twenty minutes before he came back to reality. He cleaned up the mess he had made, grabbed a book out of his bag and spent the rest of the night locked in his room; he was in no mood for company.

* * *

Hermione was practically skipping as she made her way to the Gryffindor tower. She had honestly thought that Blaise was in it just for a one off, but he had made his intentions clear just now and she was beyond excited. She still couldn't figure out for the life of her why he was so interested in a girl like her, but she certainly wasn't going to question it; she was going to thoroughly enjoy it.

Hermione got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she muttered the password and walked inside when the door swung open. When she entered the common room, everyone looked her way and it suddenly was deathly silent for about thirty seconds. After that, the whispering started at breakneck speed and Hermione quirked an eyebrow at her former dorm mates. She spotted Ginny rushing over to her and she was just about to ask what was going on when Ginny grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner.

"Someone saw you and Zabini coming out of that classroom today!" Ginny whispered fiercely.

Hermione paled, "What?"

"No one saw what you were actually doing in there, but you know this place; the rumors started running rampant!"

"How many people have heard this...rumor, Ginny?"

"Er...the whole school. I heard it from two first year Hufflepuffs." Ginny frowned.

Hermione started to panic, "So, that means that-"

"Oi, Hermione!"

Hermione whimpered at the sound of Ron's voice as he, Harry and Lavender came towards her.

"Yeah," Ginny confirmed, "They've heard."

Hermione closed her eyes, took a deep breath and prepared herself for the onslaught that she was sure was about to occur.

Ron stopped not two feet away from her, "What is all this nonsense about you and Blaise Zabini shagging in a classroom?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Hello to you too, Ron."

"Tell me it's not true!" He demanded.

"Of course it's not true, Ronald." She had no intention of letting the whole school in on the details of her private life.

Ron and Harry sighed in relief and Lavender giggled, "I tried to tell him it wasn't true, Hermione."

Lavender's voice grated on Hermione's nerves, "How would you know it isn't true, Lavender? Did _you_ start the rumor?"

Lavender giggled again, "Of course not, silly! It's just, we're talking about Blaise Zabini."

Ginny glared at her brother's girlfriend, "Just what exactly is that supposed to mean, Lavender?"

Lavender looked at Hermione sympathetically, "No offense, Hermione; It's just...well, you are so not his type."

"It's true, 'Mione." Ron agreed and received death glares from both Hermione and Ginny.

Hermione _hated_ that nickname.

"What type is that, exactly?" Hermione inquired.

"Well, you know...pretty girls." Lavender smiled shyly.

"Yeah." Ron said the word before he could stop himself.

Ginny gasped, and Hermione wanted to cry; was this really what everyone thought about her? No, it couldn't be true. Despite the fact that Hermione despised Lavender Brown with a passion, she was right about one thing; Blaise did not waste his time on...homely girls. Suddenly, the hurt that was coursing through Hermione's veins turned to anger and she glared viciously at Ron and Lavender.

"Actually, it _is_ true." Hermione stated, and she saw Ginny grin.

Ron's look of relief turned to a glare, "What are you talking about, Hermione?"

"Well, Blaise and I weren't planning on telling anyone about us which is why we were sneaking around." She mentally patted herself on the back when she saw the looks on Ron's and Lavender's faces; she couldn't decipher Harry's look.

Lavender scoffed, "You're lying."

"I'm not, actually. Today at lunch, Blaise shagged my brains out."

Lavender's jaw dropped, and just about everyone else gasped.

"So, are you like...dating him now, or are you just a slag?" Ron spat.

The room was already deadly silent as everyone was listening intently to the confrontation, so when Hermione's hand connected with Ron's face, it made a very loud cracking sound; almost like a whip. Harry and Ginny grimaced, while Lavender and the rest of the room gasped. The look on Ron's face was a mix of anger and guilt, while Hermione was just plain livid.

"What I do in my private life, and who I do it with is absolutely _none_ of your business. But, I can assure you that I am _not_ a slag; you must be confusing me with some else." Hermione looked at Lavender as she said that last part.

Hermione was purposely implying that she and Blaise were dating, and she felt guilty; she was pulling Blaise into this childish nonsense and she was no doubt going to scare him off; she needed to talk to him...soon.

Lavender laughed viciously, "You are so deluded, sweetheart. I asked Blaise out last year and if he turned _me_ down, then he must have had a bet going with some of his friends. I mean, why else would he want to touch _you_?"

Hermione was ready to pounce on Lavender when Ginny stepped in, "Ron, get your good for nothing, slag of a girlfriend out of Hermione's face before I permanently scar _hers_!"

Lavender glowered at Ginny and Ron pulled her away as he continued to glare at Ginny and Hermione. Harry had no idea what to say, so he just followed Ron. Hermione glared at the trio's retreating backs as an idea formed in her head.

A sly smile spread across her face and she turned to Ginny and whispered something in her ear. A grin broke out on Ginny's face and she nodded enthusiastically at her friend, "That's a fabulous idea! I'll be right back!"

She dashed up the stairs to the girls' dorm and reappeared not a minute later with a small bag and a book. She shot a nasty glare towards Ron and Lavender as she brushed by them and followed Hermione out of the room.

* * *

Hermione and Ginny were walking towards the Head's dorm when they spotted two figures further down the hall coming towards them. When Hermione saw their faces, she smiled. Blaise and Theo came to a halt in front of them with mischievous smiles on their faces.

"You two look like you've been up to no good." Hermione observed.

Blaise smirked, "We were messing with Peeves."

Ginny laughed, "That's so cute."

Ginny looked at Theo, and when he winked at her, she blushed and looked away.

Hermione remembered his earlier comment about Ginny in a french maid's uniform and she smirked, then looked at Blaise, "Since you're here, can I talk to you for a second?"

Blaise nodded, "Of course."

They looked at their friends and Theo grinned, "I'll take care of Little Red." He took her hand and pulled her down the hallway a bit to give them some privacy.

"What's up?" Blaise asked.

"Have you seen anyone else since you left my common room?"

"No, why?"

Hermione blushed, "Well, it seems that someone saw us coming out of the classroom at lunch and now the whole school is talking about it."

Blaise looked slightly amused, "Really?"

"Yeah, but there's more. I was getting bombarded by all the Gryffindors and Ron's horrible girlfriend had to open her filthy mouth and well, I was just so mad...I may have...I just wanted them to eat their words, so I kind of told them...that we are...dating. I'm so sorry, Blaise! It just came out; I swear I'll set the record straight tomorrow! I'm _not_ one of those girls that starts refering to a guy as her boyfriend after one...incident. I know you aren't my boyfriend and I swear I'll tell everyone tomorrow." A tear was streaking down Hermione's face and and Blaise wiped it away with his thumb.

"Why are you crying?" He asked.

"Whatever this is between us...it's the best thing that's happened to me in a long time and I have thoroughly fucked it up already."

Blaise grinned at her use of profanity, "You haven't _fucked_ anything up, love."

"I haven't?"

"No; I could care less what this school thinks about me, and I know that you aren't that kind of girl. You said what you had to say and I'll back you up."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, because I'm going to make them all eat their words tomorrow."

Blaise arched a brow, "Really; do tell."

"Nope; it's a surprise."

"Hmm." Blaise smiled and pulled Hermione towards him and kissed her.

There was a discreet cough and the couple pulled away and looked at Ginny and Theo.

Ginny smiled, "I hate to break this up, but curfew is in an hour, Hemione."

Hermione looked at her watch, "Right; I'll see you tomorrow."

She smiled at the Slytherins as she grabbed Ginny's hand and hauled her off towards her dorm.

"What was the about?" Theo asked as the girls disappeared around a corner.

"It seems someone saw us together at lunch." Blaise said.

"Hmm, that should make for an interesting day tomorrow."

Blaise snorted, "No shit."

When Blaise and Theo got back to their common room, all chatter quickly died as everyone gawked at the more-famous-than-usual Slytherin. He stared them all down, daring them to say something; quickly getting the hint, everyone's chatter resumed. Blaise shewed some second years off the couch and he and Theo took it over.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione got up thirty minutes earlier than usual so she could get started on her new look. After Lavender and Ron had basically told her that she was ugly, Hermione had decided that she'd had enough. Enough of Ron and his slag of a girlfriend, enough of gossiping teenagers, hell, she'd had enough of _being_ a teenager. Hermione had borrowed a book from Ginny called "A Witches Guide to Beauty," as well as some makeup. She and Ginny had gone through the book and decided on a spell that would give Hermione smooth, wavy hair and a spell that would make her hair a rich, dark brown.. Hermione did her hair, put on a little black eyeliner to bring out her eyes and a blush pink lipstick. After that, she went to her closet and grabbed a clean uniform and set it on her bed. Pointing her wand at the garments, she shortened her skirt so that it came to the bottom of her thighs and she made her shirt one size smaller. As a finishing touch, she transfigured her clod hopper shoes into platform Mary Janes with two inch heels, and put a spell on them that would keep her from tripping; she never had been very graceful when it came to high heels. After she got dressed, she looked in the mirror and was very pleased with her reflection. While she had done this to put Ron and Lavender in their places, she actually couldn't wait to see Blaise's reaction. She put on her robes, but let them hang open and grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

Hermione got to the Great Hall and pulled the door open without a moment's hesitation; she was finished being intimidated by this place. She walked into the room and smirked as heads turned her way. When the whispers finally made their rounds, the room went quiet as Hermione made her way towards the Gryffindor table.

Over at the Slytherin table, Blaise was completely oblivious as he buttered a piece of toast.

"Gesù dolce." Theo kicked Blaise's shin and when he glared up at him, Theo nodded in Hermione's direction. (Sweet Jesus)

Blaise looked over and took in the sight that was Hermione Granger. He stared at her for a good thirty seconds before he broke out into a grin, "Sorpresa davvero." (Surprise indeed)

Draco looked over and felt his heart constrict at the sight of her.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione came up and sat down next to Ginny who was grinning like an idiot, "You look bloody brilliant Hermione!"

Hermione smiled, "Thanks, Gin."

She refused to look at Ron and Lavender, but she knew that they were both staring at her with gaping mouths.

Harry smirked, "I think you've proved your point."

Hermione grinned at him and saw him nod his head in her direction as he looked over her head. She turned around and saw Blaise sauntering towards their table. Ginny practically shoved Neville so she could scoot over and make room for Blaise. He smiled at her and took a seat, turning towards Hermione.

"Hi." He smirked at her.

"Hi." She replied, blushing.

"You are a stunning creature." His ran his hand through her hair and she shuddered; he was an expert at taking her breath away. "Not that I'm complaining," he continued, "but, what brought on this transformation?"

" _Someone_ ," she glared in Ron's direction, "brought it to my attention that my physical appearance lacked a certain...je ne sais quoi; so here we are."

"Vous parlez français?" Blaise inquired. (You speak French?)

Hermione smiled, "Oui; J'ai appris l'été dernier." (Yes; I learned it last summer.)

"Eh bien dans ce cas, que dites-vous nous souffler potions et allons trouver une autre salle de classe?" (Well in that case, what do you say we blow off potions and go find another classroom?)

Hermione grinned, "As tempting as that is, Snape will crucify me if I miss class."

Blaise frowned, "Alright then, can I walk you?"

She nodded and he picked up her bag and slung it over his shoulder.

When she stood up, Blaise leaned forward, "I almost forgot something." He leaned over and kissed her and then whispered in her ear, "That should give them something to talk about."

Ginny looked very pleased, Harry was still smirking, Ron and Lavender looked thoroughly pissed, and Draco looked dejected. Hermione laughed and turned around to wink at Lavender before she followed Blaise out of the room.

As it was her last year of school, Hermione was going to go out with a bang.

* * *

 ** _Show me the love, people! (Constructive criticism is also appreciated.) :)_**


	7. Sleeping with a Friend

**_Hey guys...so, I had a space cadet moment and deleted this chapter on accident._**

 ** _I reposted it but didn't change anything, so if you've already read it, you can skip it._**

 _ **Sorry for the goof!**_

* * *

 _I said ooh, ooh  
You got me in the mood, mood  
I'm scared  
But if my heart's gonna break before the night will end  
I said, ooh, ooh we're in danger  
Sleeping with a friend, sleeping with a friend_

 _-Sleeping with a Friend By Neon Trees_

By the end of the day, Hermione was thoroughly pleased with herself. She had been leered at by by 80% of her male classmates, and she'd been glared at by 95% of her female classmates, and it...felt...great. She had made it a point to ignore Ron whenever he was around, only talking to Harry and Ginny during breaks and lunch. After her last class, she was walking to her dorm when she heard Lavender screaming things at Ron that she couldn't make out from that distance. As she rounded a corner, she saw Ron with a read face and Lavender with tears in her eyes. Lavender stopped mid yell when she saw that Ron wasn't paying attention to her anymore and turned in the direction of his distraction.

She saw Hermione and narrowed her eyes into slits, "This is all _your_ fault!" Lavender screeched.

Hermione had planned on just cruising by without acknowledging either one of them, but it appeared that Lavender had other ideas. Hermione stopped and raised a brow at the blonde girl, "I beg your pardon?"

Lavender stormed up to Hermione and got in her face, "Blaise Zabini gives you a pity fuck and now of a sudden you think you're hot shit!?"

Hermione took a step back in disgust and then sneered at the blonde, "Jealously doesn't suit you, Lavender."

Ron stepped forward and grabbed Lavender's arm, pulling her back, "Lavender, stop it! This isn't Hermione's fault!"

Lavender jerked her arm out of Ron's grasp and cast one more scathing glare at Hermione before running off down the hall.

Hermione turned to Ron, "What the bloody hell was that all about, Ronald?"

Ron ignored her question and changed the subject, "Hermione, I'm sorry about yesterday."

Hermione looked at him warily, "I don't want to talk about this right now, Ron; I've got better things to do."

Ron scowled at her, "What, like Zabini?"

Hermione could feel her anger rising, "What business is it of yours?"

Ron sighed, "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Hermione; I really am sorry."

"An apology isn't going to cut it this time, Ron. You have no idea how much you hurt me yesterday with all those things you said to me. You chose your slag of a girlfriend over me; I can't just forget that."

Ron looked devastated, "Hermione, please-"

She cut him off, "I just need some time, Ron."

Before Ron could respond, Hermione quickly walked away.

* * *

Hermione was sitting on the couch reading a book with Crookshanks in her lap when the door to the common room opened. She looked up and smiled when she saw Blaise saunter through. He came over and plopped down next to her and stroked the sleeping feline's fur.

"You are quite the celebrity today, Miss Granger." Blaise smirked.

Hermione set her book aside, "What are they saying about me now?"

"Apparently, Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown have been fighting all day because of you." Blaise imitated the voice of a teenage girl and Hermione laughed.

"I know; I caught one of their fights. Ron tried to apologize to me for being a git, but I told him that I just wasn't ready to forgive him."

Blaise smirked at her knowingly and she quirked an eyebrow at him, "What?"

"If Weasley wasn't such a moron, you would be with him right now instead of that slag Brown."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was confused.

"The entire school, with the exception of you, apparently, knows that Weasley has been in love with you since...third year?"

Hermione scoffed, "Yeah, ok; whatever you say, Blaise."

Blaise chuckled, "It's true, Hermione."

Now Hermione was beyond confused, "Are you serious?"

Blaise just nodded.

"But, he-then why is he-I don't-" Hermione didn't know where to start.

Blaise put a finger to her lips to silence her, "The only thing I will ever give that imbecile credit for is for being smart enough to know that you are way too good for him. He settled for that slag because he knows that he doesn't deserve you. He's spent the last six years using you for your brains, and now that he's seen your full potential, he's kicking himself."

Hermione let the words sink in before she scoffed, "Well, that's just stupid."

Blaise grinned, "That's already been established, love."

Crookshanks jumped off the couch and wandered over to the door and then looked at Hermione expectantly. Hermione went over to let the cat out and then turned back to Blaise.

"Ron is a good person, Blaise. He's just-" Hermione trailed off.

Blaise went over to Hermione and leaned down and placed a kiss on his favorite part of her body; the skin just below her ear. She always made the most delicious sounds when he kissed her there. Now was no exception and Blaise smirked at the sound.

"He's just too stupid to see what's been right in front of him all these years." He whispered in her ear and Hermione shivered.

Blaise moved his lips from the sensitive spot to her jaw and hen up to her lips. He kissed her deeply and Hermione let out a strangled whimper; he never ceased to make her feel like she was on fire. Blaise broke the kiss and then grabbed Hermione around the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her towards her room.

Hermione shrieked, "Blaise, put me down!"

Remembering from the last time that he had had to get into Hermione's room, Blaise said the password as Hermione squealed and giggled over his shoulder. He walked into the room and unceremoniously dumped Hermione onto the bed before pouncing on her.

"While yesterday was very enjoyable, I want to take my time with you." Blaise quickly said a contraceptive charm and then nuzzled her neck as be began unbuttoning her shirt. She sat up just enough so he could remove it and while he was at it, he made quick work of her bra and threw the garments to the side.

Hermione blushed as Blaise looked at her breasts and he smiled, "Don't be shy, love; your beautiful."

Blaise leaned down and captured her lips in a searing kiss as his hands worked on removing her skirt. He trailed his lips down her jaw, over her throat, and passed her collar bone before pulling one of her pert nipples into his mouth. Hermione gasped and wound her fingers through his hair, encouraging him to continue. Blaise lavished equal amounts of attention on each breast as he unbuttoned her skirt and pulled it out from under her, tossing it aside to join her other clothes. Blaise quickly removed his own shirt and then brought his lips back to hers as he snaked his hand into her underwear and sank a finger into her center; Hermione whimpered into Blaise's mouth at the new sensation. He added a second finger as his thumb played with her sensitive nub. Hermione broke their kiss and moaned loudly when his fingers found that perfect spot inside her. She could feel the pressure starting to build inside her and she whimpered Blaise's name, asking for more. Blaise quickly divested himself of his pants and boxers and shimmied Hermione's underwear down her legs before kissing her again as he slowly slid himself into her, causing her breath to hitch. Blaise groaned at the feeling of how tight she was and Hermione wrapped her legs around his hips, meeting his thrusts until they found the perfect rhythm.

Blaise leaned down and whispered huskily in Hermione's ear, "You are fucking incredible, Hermione."

Hermione could feel the pressure inside her building back up and when Blaise started running his tongue along that super sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, Hermione felt herself come undone and she screamed out his name as pure ecstasy flooded her veins. Feeling her walls clench around him pushed Blaise over the edge and with one last thrust, he released himself inside her tight channel, before collapsing on her. He rolled off of her and they laid next to each other for a few minutes, catching their breathes.

Remembering their first encounter, Hermione smiled and looked over at Blaise, "Thanks."

Blaise smirked at her, "Thank _you_."

Hermione turned herself in Blaise's direction and sat up a bit, propping her head on her elbow, "So, is this like a friends with benefits kind of thing?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's a Muggle term; basically, it means that we are friends who occasionally-"

"Shag?" Blaise offered.

Hermione grinned, "Yeah."

"Hmm...that's a good idea." Blaise turned towards her and propped himself up as well.

"Yes, I think it is."

Blaise studied Hermione's nude form and ran his fingers along her side and over her breasts and she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation. Blaise ran feather light touches all along her body as he watched her face and in a matter of moments he was hard again.

He grabbed her hips and roughly pulled her closer to him and whispered huskily in her ear, "It's a very good idea."

Hermione wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to her lips as they went for round two.

A few hours later, Hermione woke up alone, except for the single red rose that was on her pillow along with a note.

 _Ci vediamo più tardi, bella ragazza. (See you later, beautiful girl.)_

At that moment, Hermione decided that it was time for her to learn Italian.

* * *

After dinner that night, Draco was in his bedroom doing his homework when he heard a scratching on his window. He went to the window and saw his family's owl, Persephone sitting on the ledge with an envelope tied to her foot. Draco opened the window and the owl flew in and perched herself on his chair and Draco found her a treat. He fed the bird, and stroked her feathers as he read the letter.

 _My Dearest Draco,_

 _I am writing to let you know that things are moving along more quickly than we had first thought on this end, and to be prepared to put our plan in motion sooner than expected. I will let you know as soon as I have more details._

 _I hope that this letter finds you well. Your sister asks about you on a daily basis and says that she misses you terribly, as do I._

 _Take care my beautiful son._

 _All my love,_

 _Mother_

Draco folded up the letter and stuck it in his pocket as he watched Persephone fly out the window, and then he headed off towards the dungeons.

He walked into the Slytherin common room and immediately saw Blaise and Theo in the corner playing a game of Wizard's Chess. Blaise looked up and Draco motioned for him to come over. Blaise stood up and pulled Theo up with him and they all left the common room. When they were out of earshot of everyone else, Draco handed the letter to Blaise. He read it and then passed it to Theo.

"Sooner than expected? When the hell is that supposed to be; next month, tomorrow?" Blaise barked.

Draco leaned against the wall, "Well, originally it was supposed to be after school got out for summer. Looks like we might be testing Snape's escape route of this school."

Theo cursed, "I was kind of hoping that I'd at least get to graduate before all this shit goes down."

Blaise slapped his friend on the back, "Come on now; you know we aren't normal."

Draco snorted, "That's an understatement."

Blaise sighed, "We all pretty much knew this was coming; nothing's really changed."

Theo kicked the wall, "Yeah, but this makes it more...real."

Blaise smirked, "Looks like you'll just have to shorten your list of conquests for the year."

Theo grinned, "Nah, I'll just have to work through the list faster."

The boys all chuckled and went back to the common room and did their best to forget about the soon to come events that would no doubt change their lives forever.

* * *

 _ **Until next time, my faithful followers/reviewers! :)**_


	8. Uninvited

_**A for real new chapter! :)**_

* * *

 _Like anyone would be_ _  
_ _I am flattered by your fascination with me_ _  
_ _Like any hot-blooded woman_ _  
_ _I have simply wanted an object to crave_ _  
_ _But you, you're not allowed_ _  
_ _You're uninvited_ _  
_ _An unfortunate slight_

 _-Uninvited by_ _A_ _lanis_ _M_ _orissette_

Draco walked into his common room to see Blaise and Hermione on the couch, engrossed in their potions homework. Two months had passed since they had first gotten together and Draco was finally accepting it all; he didn't like it, but he excepted it. He was now used to Hermione joining in on some of their conversations as he, Blaise and Theo lounged around in their common room while she was usually in the corner doing her homework. After that night when Hermione had scolded him for being a messy roommate and he had finally come to terms with the fact that he had more than just a little crush on the spitfire, Hermione had come back to a spotlessly clean common room. She took it as a subtle peace offering, and the two begun to tolerate each other on a more peaceful level. As envious as Draco was of Baise's relationship with the Head Girl, he was still sticking to his thoughts that she was way out of his league and it was best for all involved if he just stayed away from her. Lately, however, that had begun to be a lot easier said than done as Hermione had apparently been given a huge confidence boost since beginning her fling with his best friend. She had begun strutting around in tighter shirts, shorter skirts, and she hardly ever wore her robes outside of classes anymore. It was a very subtle change, but to people like Draco and his two best friends, who already had their eyes on her, it was not-so-subtle. Hermione had always been a beautiful girl, but the new changes and her sudden confidence had made Draco painfully aware of the fact.

Currently, Hermione had her legs stretched out across Blaise's lap as he read from their potions book and she diligently copied things down on a piece of parchment. Draco's eyes ran from the tips of her pink painted toenails, up her smooth, long, tan legs, and stopped where her skirt met the middle of her thighs. Draco couldn't help all of the uninvited thoughts of the Head Girl and her legs as they bombarded his brain. The clearing of a throat brought Draco out of his fantasies and he looked up to see Blaise smirking at him.

Draco glared at Blaise and he grinned, "What's on your mind, mate?"

The sudden lack of quiet brought Hermione out of her homework zone and she looked up just as Draco growled, "Nothing."

Blaise chuckled, but decided to let it go for now, "Where's Theo?"

Draco let out a dramatic sigh and dumped his stuff on the coffee table and plopped into the closest chair, "I left him in the library to put the moves on a 5th year from Hufflepuff."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I wonder if he ever gets tired of being a man whore."

Blaise smiled, "I severely doubt it."

Hermione set her parchment aside and stood up to stretch out all the kinks and Draco's eyes were once again glued to Hermione as her stretching caused her shirt to ride up just enough to expose the tiniest bit of her stomach and Draco groaned quietly.

Oblivious to it all, Hermione looked at her watch and smiled, "I'm going to go to the Gryffindor common room for a while before dinner; I'll see you guys later."

She flounced out the door and Draco shoved his bag onto the floor, "What in the bloody hell is wrong with me; I'm acting like a bloody 13 year old!"

Blaise smirked, "She has that effect, mate. C'mon; let's go rescue that poor Hufflepuff from Theo."

* * *

Hermione pulled her robes over her head and dumped them onto the couch and set her wand on the table. After dinner, she had been set to patrol, but was asked to switch days with a 5th year that had gotten detention on their night. She was heading to her room when she saw that the door to Draco's room was open. She peeked inside his room to see if he was there and a flash of long blonde hair caught her eye as she was turning back towards the common room. She looked closer and saw a framed picture on Draco's desk. She walked up to the desk and picked up the picture and saw that it was Draco holding a little girl who looked to be about five. She had long, curly hair the exact shade as Draco's and she was grinning like a fool at Draco as she was trying to tickle him. He'd play along for a moment before he'd attack her ribs with his fingers, causing her to giggle. Never in her life had Hermione seen Draco Malfoy looking so happy; he had a genuine smile on his face, and that was very rare.

Ever since Hermione had started _seeing_ Blaise two months ago, Draco and Theo had become a part of her life just as much as Harry, Ron, Ginny and the rest of her friends were. Theo never missed an opportunity to flirt with her, but there was also a sweet side of him that she never thought she'd see in a Slytherin; he had actually become a pretty good friend. Draco, however, was a whole other story. They had formed a silent truce and things had become much more comfortable and easy going than they had been at the beginning of the year, but Hermione could still feel the heated looks that Draco gave her when he thought that she wasn't paying attention. Hermione loved they way things were with her and Blaise, but she couldn't help but wonder how things might be with Draco. Blaise was sweet, gentle and kind when it came to Hermione, but she had a strong feeling that Draco would be anything but. She was almost certain that things with Draco would be incredibly intense, and a part of her really wanted to find out.

She couldn't seem to get these completely uninvited thoughts of the Head Boy out of her mind, and it was really starting to take its toll on her sanity.

She was absently running her finger over the picture she was holding and she didn't hear Draco come into the room.

"Aren't you supposed to be patrolling?"

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice and almost dropped the picture. She carefully put it back on the desk and looked over at Draco and suddenly felt very hot when she saw him standing in his doorway in nothing but a towel. His hair was still wet and she could see little water droplets on his skin. She couldn't help but compare his body to Blaise's as she couldn't take her eyes off him. He was a bit more broad around the shoulders than Blaise was and just a bit more toned; she figured it was because he was the captain of his Quidditch team and probably spent more time on the field than his teammates. The dark green towel was hanging dangerously low on his hips and before she could stop herself, she though about how easily she would be able to yank the towel off him. Living in such close proximity to Draco for the last few weeks had Hermione fantasizing more and more about him and it was starting to take its toll on her sanity.

Draco quirked an eyebrow at Hermione's blatant staring,"Alright there, Princess?"

Hermione jumped again and looked up and blushed at being caught checking him out. She looked from him to the picture and back to him again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space; your door was open and this picture caught my attention. Is that your sister?"

Draco looked at the picture and nodded.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"Not many people do; it's safer for her that way."

Hermione gave him a sad smile, "Yeah, I can imagine; I won't tell anyone. What's her name?"

"Isabelle; she's the only good thing that ever came from my parents getting together."

"Don't say that, Draco; you aren't a bad person."

Dangerous things happened to him when he heard his given name coming from her lips.

Hermione smiled at the happy people in the picture, "She looks just like you."

Draco walked over and picked up the picture, studying it for a moment, "You think so?"

"Yeah, she's beautiful."

Draco looked at her, "Are you saying that I'm beautiful?"

Hermione blushed again and Draco smirked, "Well, you said that my sister looks just like me, and from the way you were just checking me out..."

Hermione tried to come up with a witty response, but she knew it was no use. She sighed and looked up into his eyes, "I'm not blind, Draco."

Draco's smirked vanished, "Why do you call me that?"

Hermione cocked her head to the side, "That's your name, isn't it?"

"You've called me 'Malfoy' since we were kids."

Hermione couldn't help but study him again, "Well, we aren't kids anymore."

Draco saw the unmistakable lust in her eyes, "No, we're not."

Hermione looked into his eyes and saw a look that matched what he saw in hers, "I should go; I've got tons of homework."

"Aren't you supposed to be patrolling?" Draco asked again.

"One of the fifth years got detention on their night, so I told them I'd switch shifts with them."

"Oh." Was all Draco said.

Hermione knew that she should leave, but she couldn't seem to make her feet work. Later that night, she would wonder what on Earth had possessed her to do what she was about to do. She slowly reached out and traced the definition in Draco's abs; he really was magnificent. She heard him give a sharp intake of breath as her fingers glided across his skin with featherlight touches, and he gently grabbed her hand to stop her.

She looked up and gasped as she realized what she was doing, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have-"

Her words were cut off when he crashed his lips onto hers. All the tension that Draco had been feeling towards her these last few months had finally come to a head, and he threw it all into that kiss. The intensity of the kiss made Hermione's knees go weak and Draco grasped her hips to keep her steady. He slipped a hand under her shirt and Hermione gasped at the feeling of his cool hands on her hot skin. Draco slipped his tongue inside her mouth and Hermione whimpered. Draco's kisses were hot and demanding, completely different from Blaise's soft and gentle kisses. Before Hermione could fully grasp her thoughts of Blaise, Draco ran his hands down her hips and grabbed her ass and lifted her up and against the wall, trapping her with his body. She wrapped her legs around his hips for support and put everything she had into that kiss. She had been right; Draco Malfoy was hot, smoldering, intense heat. Absolutely nothing about this moment was kind and gentle. Hermione ran her nails across Draco's back and he hissed at the pain, but was also immensely enjoying the pleasure that came with it. His mouth left hers and began its assault on her neck and throat. Hermione ran her fingers through his hair and was reveling in the sensations that he was causing.

When Draco's hand found its way under her skirt and brushed across her heat, reality came crashing down on her and all she could see was Blaise. She cared about him so much, and while she wasn't sure what they had, she knew that as long as they were together, she couldn't be doing this with his best friend.

Hermione gently, but forcefully pushed Draco away from her and she dropped back onto the ground. Draco was breathing hard, but he didn't look at all surprised that she had stopped him.

"I'm so sorry, Draco." She cried. "I can't-we can't do this to Blaise. I'm sorry."

Hermione quickly righted her clothes and ran from the room and slammed the door behind her before Draco could say a word.

Draco stared at the door for a few seconds before he grabbed the nearest object and chucked it at the door, "Fuck!"

Draco sat on the edge of his bed and ran his hands through his still damp hair as he thought about the huge cluster fuck that he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

 _ **Stupidly short, I know.**_

 _ **However, it is pretty much the turning point in the story, so I thought it needed its own chapter.**_

 _ **Review, review, review! :)**_

 _ **xoxoxo**_


	9. Thinking About Somebody Else

**_You guys are amazing; thanks for all the great reviews!_**

* * *

 _Everyone here, knows everyone here is thinking about_ _  
_ _Somebody else_ _  
_ _It's best if we all keep it under our heads_ _  
_ _I couldn't tell, if anyone here was feeling the way I do_ _  
_ _But I'm lonely now, and I don't know how_ _  
_ _To get it back to good_

 _-Back to Good by Matchbox 20_

Hermione was in trouble; that's all there was to it. For the past six weeks, she and Blaise had been going strong with their 'friends with benefits' arrangement and it was starting to take its toll on Hermione. The more time she spent with Blaise Zabini, the more she realized how much she cared for him. He was smart, sweet, witty, gorgeous, and he made her feel special. For the first few weeks, she had spent as much time with Blaise as she could because she just loved to be around him. As the days went on, her feelings for him had started to grow and she decided that if she put some space between herself and Blaise, then the feelings would flicker out.

How wrong she was.

If anything, they seemed to get stronger the more she was with him. On the occasion when they would end up sleeping in the same bed after their trysts, Hermione would catch herself watching Blaise as he slept or brushing a strand of hair out of his face, and then she would curse herself for being so stupid. What she and Blaise had was strictly physical and she was off her knut if she thought that he could ever feel for her what she was starting to feel for him. If she had any sense at all, she would cut ties with him and they would go their separate ways. The problem was, when Blaise wasn't around, Hermione felt...almost empty. She was afraid that if she ended things with him, then he wouldn't speak to her at all anymore, and there would be this void in her life where he had been. That thought brought Hermione to a terrifying conclusion.

She was in love with Blaise Zabini.

That huge bombshell wasn't even the worst of her problems; as of late, she couldn't get Draco sodding Malfoy out of her head. After the incident in his bedroom last week, it seemed like he was competing with Blaise for taking up the majority of Hermione's thoughts. Thinking back to that night made Hermione flush as she was sitting at her desk, trying to work on her homework. Draco had avoided her like the plague ever since that night, which made being his roommate very difficult. Blaise hadn't acted any different towards her the next day, so she assumed that Draco hadn't told him or Theo about what had happened. Why had it happened in the first place? As far as she knew, Draco hated her guts like he had since their first year; that kiss had said otherwise. Half of her brain was focused on her realization that she was in love with Blaise, and the other half was consumed with these new feelings she had for Draco and the fantasies that she couldn't keep from having every time she saw him. Hermione threw her quill down when she decided that her homework was a lost cause. She needed to talk to someone about this and Ginny was just the person she needed.

* * *

Hermione had dragged Ginny back to her room after telling Harry and Ron that she needed Ginny for some 'girl talk;' the boys were all too happy to let them go so that they wouldn't be forced to endure it. Ginny was sitting on Hermione's bed with Crookshanks in her lap as Hermione was pacing across her floor while she told Ginny what had happened with Draco. Ginny sat with wide eyes as Hermione told her story and when she sat on the chair at her desk, Ginny was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Well, say something please! I need your advice." Hermione cried exasperatedly.

"You're in trouble." Ginny stated.

Hermione closed her eyes and massaged her temples, "You don't know the half of it."

"There's more?"

"I think I'm in love with Blaise."

"Oh, Hermione." Was all Ginny could manage to get out.

"I'm in love with Blaise Zabini and I'm having these...fantasies about his best sodding friend!"

"Do you have any idea what to do?"

Hermione threw her hands up, "What can I do? Blaise could never love me, Ginny."

"And why not? You are an incredible person, Hermione."

"We are just too different. He's everything I'm not and-"

Ginny set Crookshanks on the bed and jumped up and put her hands on her hips, "Are you telling me that you think he's too good for you?"

Hermione looked at the ground, "Isn't he?"

Ginny glared at her best friend, "Absolutely not! You are three times the person _any_ of those Slytherins are! They could only ever dream of having someone as amazing as you!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "It's not just that, Gin. We are on complete opposite sides of the war. It's not like Blaise or even Draco would go against their...way of life for me."

Ginny caught Hermione's hesitation, "Way of life; why not beliefs?"

"Because they don't believe in all that rubbish."

"And you know this for a fact?"

"I know them, Gin. They don't act like the cold blooded killers their families are. They're doing what they have to to survive and protect the people that they love." As Hermione said this, Draco's sister popped into her head.

Ginny thought about that for a moment, "If you are so sure that you don't stand a chance with Blaise, then you should probably end things before you get in too deep."

Hermione sighed and slumped down into her chair, "That's what I've been thinking. I just...I don't want to lose him; any part of him. I'm afraid that if I end the psychical part of our relationship, then he won't want anything to do with me at all anymore. Then of course there's Draco. He hasn't spoken to me since that night which makes my life as Head Girl extremely difficult. Not to mention these damn feelings that I'm starting to have for him as well. What I need to do is just cut all Slytherins out of my life!"

"Easier said than done, isn't it?" Ginny gave her friend an encouraging smile.

"I'll talk to Blaise tomorrow." Hermione decided.

* * *

After school the next day, Hermione was sitting on the couch in her common room reading a book when Blaise came through the door. She looked up and smiled as he came over and sat next to her. She put her book down and turned her body to face him as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Hi."

Hermione smiled back at him, "Hi, yourself."

"So, you said you wanted to talk; is everything ok?"

Hermione sighed, "Yes, everything's fine; I've just been thinking about this...thing between us."

When Blaise nodded, she continued, "I think that it's time we ended things."

For a moment, Hermione thought that she saw something flash in his eyes, but it was gone just as quick and he gave her a smile, "Ok, if that's what you want. Can I ask why?"

Hermione thought about telling him the truth, that she was head over heels for him, but she didn't want to make things awkward. She knew that he would never return her feelings, and it was best if she just played it off like their fling had just run its course.

"We both know that there can't ever really be anything between us, and I just think that what we have has gone as far as it can go. Don't you agree?"

Blaise was silent for a moment, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Hermione couldn't help but be a bit hurt at how nonchalant Blaise was being about the whole thing, but she had expected it.

"It was fun while it lasted." Blaise leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Take care, mia bella."

Before Hermione could changed her mind, Blaise was up and out the door. Hermione sat there for a few minutes and let reality sink in and then the tears started to flow.

* * *

Blaise, Draco and Theo were in Draco and Hermione's common room sharing a bottle of Fire Whiskey and staring absentmindedly at the roaring fire. Theo took note that Hermione and Blaise, who had been practically inseparable the last few weeks, had avoided each other like the plague all day, Hermione hadn't made an appearance in the three hours that they'd been here and Draco and Blaise were acting like a couple of pms'ing girls.

Theo finally got tired of the silence, "Alright, girls; what's the matter with you?"

His two friends shot him identical looks of disdain, "Fuck off." They chorused.

Theo smirked and looked at Blaise,"Did you and the exquisite Gryffindor princess have a lover's spat?"

Blaise growled, "Leave it alone, Nott."

Theo chuckled, "I'm sure you two will work it all out."

Theo didn't miss the pained look on Blaise's face, "No, we won't; she broke it off yesterday."

Draco had been barely paying attention to the conversation, but Blaise's words caught his attention, "Granger dumped you?"

Blaise punched Draco's arm, "We weren't actually dating, dumbass; just shagging."

"She must have been one hell of a lay for you to be acting all bent out of shape." Theo quipped.

Blaise snatched the bottle out of Theo's hand and took a swig of the amber liquid, "It's not just that. Now that she's not around anymore, I can't seem to get the bloody witch out of my head."

Theo grinned like a fool, "You're in love with her."

Blaise looked at Theo like he had just insulted his mother, "I am not."

"Deny it all you want, Zabini; you are head over heals for the witch." Theo looked very pleased with himself.

Draco came to his friend's defense, "Don't be daft, Theo; Blaise is not in love with Granger."

Theo turned his sights on Draco, "Jealous, mate?'

Draco clenched his fists, "You are off your bloody rocker, Nott."

Theo rolled his eyes, "Come off it, the both of you. Draco, you've been in love with the witch since we were what, fifteen?" Theo cast his eyes to Blaise, "And _you_ got the bright idea that it would be a fun sport to bed the witch and now you've gone and lost your heart to her."

Draco and Blaise both opened their mouths to let Theo have it just as the door to the common room opened. The subject of their conversation walked into the room and Hermione blushed when she saw three sets of eyes trained on her. She was sure that the topic of her and Blaise's breakup and come up by now, and she wasn't sure how they were going to treat her.

With her confidence significantly lowered when it came to the three Slytherins, she gave them a shy, awkward smile, "Hi, guys."

Theo raised the whiskey bottle and nodded at Hermione, Draco kept the same cryptic look he always had when he was looking at her, and Blaise just quirked an eyebrow at her, "Granger."

Hermione flinched at the use of her surname coming from Blaise's lips; he hadn't called her that since the beginning of the year and it stung. Hermione fought back the tears and quickly went to her room and shut the door firmly behind her.

Theo let out a whistle, "Wow, it just got cold in here."

Draco kept his eyes on Hermione's door, "Out."

Theo and Blaise looked at him, "What?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "I'm patrolling tonight and I need to take a shower first."

The two shared a look, but didn't push the subject; they said their goodbyes and left the room. Draco made a beeline for Hermione's door and pounded on it, "Open the door, Granger!"

Draco went to pound on the door again when it opened to a red eyed, runny nosed Hermione Granger.

She sniffled, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"What, no more Draco?" He sneered.

Hermione wiped her tears and rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for your games, _Draco._ What do you want!?"

Draco pushed his way into Hermione's room, "Blaise said you dumped him yesterday."

"I'm well aware of what transpired between Blaise and I, Draco; what's your point?"

"Why? Why did you dump him?"

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, "I don't see how that is any business of yours. Although, I'm sure Blaise will tell you if you ask him."

"Is it because I kissed you?"

"What?"

Draco growled, "You heard me, Granger! Is it because I kissed you? Is that the reason why you broke it off with Blaise? Did you tell him about it?"

Hermione put her hand up to stop Draco's rant, "Hold on a second; I didn't tell Blaise anything about that and it has _nothing_ to do with why I ended things."

Draco let out a breath, "Good."

Hermione glared at him, "For the record, Malfoy, I did not _dump_ Blaise; that would imply that we were dating, and you know as well as I do that Blaise doesn't have girlfriends. I just ended what we were doing."

"Fucking." Draco stated.

"Get out, Malfoy." Hermione barked.

Draco ignored her command, "It seems a little odd that right after I snog you, you _end_ things with Blaise. If that's not the reason, then what is?"

Hermione looked away and Draco's question was answered; it was also one of his worst fears. The object of his affection and obsession was in love with his best friend.

"You're in love with him.' Draco said, matter-of-factly.

Hermione's silence was all the confirmation he needed.

Draco barked out a laugh, "You are off your bloody rocker if you think that Blaise would ever love someone like you."

Hermione jerked her head up to look at Draco, "Someone like me? Blood status and over all disgusting-ness sure as hell didn't stop you from snogging me senseless last week!"

Draco sneered at her, "I was horny and you are the resident Slytherin Slut, after all; I figured it was worth a shot."

The tears came back in full force and Hermione threw the heaviest thing she could find at Draco's head, "Get out, you slimy bastard; just get out!"

Draco ducked before the book hit him in the face and he sauntered towards the door. If he was going to be miserable, then by Merlin's beard, so was she.

"Never forget where you belong, Granger. On the floor with the rest of the dirt and shit of this world."

Draco shut the door behind him just as he heard Hermione scream and then a loud thud against the door.

That girl had some damn heavy books.

* * *

 _ **I hoped you guys liked it! Please let me know your thoughts!**_

 _ **:)**_


	10. You bleed just to know you're alive

_**Well, I posted this chapter this morning, but apparently my computer didn't like it because it disappeared. Anyway, here it is again.**_

 _ **Sorry, guys!**_

* * *

 _ **I've gotten some requests for a Hermione and Theo chapter, so this one's for you guys!**_

* * *

 _And you can't fight the_ _tears_ _that ain_ _'_ _t coming_ _  
_ _Or the moment of truth in your lies_ _  
_ _When everything feels like the movies_ _  
_ _Yeah you_ _bleed_ _just to know you_ _'_ _re alive._

 _\- Iris by Goo Goo Dolls_

Hermione was sitting on the couch in her common room with a bottle of Fire Whiskey that she had stolen from Draco's "secret hiding place." Lucky for her, it had been more than half full when she found it. After two swigs, she was already starting to feel it and her empty stomach wasn't helping the situation. All the Slytherins were in their common room celebrating their Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff, so Hermione knew that it would be hours before Draco came back, if he even came back at all. It had been a month since Hermione had called it off with Blaise and he had barely said more than two words to her ever since. Hermione knew that she'd had serious feelings for Blaise, but she had never fully grasped how much he meant to her until he wasn't around anymore. She missed the way he smiled at her when they would flirt, she missed the sweet nicknames that he had for her, how he would rub her shoulders or feet after she'd had a particularly bad day, how he always seemed to know when something was bothering her and how he was always able to make her feel better, and of course the sex; she missed the sex. While they'd been together, she'd has sex once a week at the very least. She was torn between smiling, blushing and crying when she thought about the week that Blaise had shagged her senseless every day; the man was insatiable. Since the end of their tryst, Hermione had been celibate and it was really starting to take it's toll on her nerves.

Hermione shoved all thoughts of her Italian stud to the back of her mind and took another swig of Draco's liquor. Hermione snorted as she thought of her blond roommate; things with him hadn't gotten any better either. Ever since the night that he'd called her a Slytherin Whore, she'd avoided him at all costs. She'd outlined all of their tasks as head students, split them up, and tacked half of them to Draco's door. Thankfully Draco had been smart enough to get the point and they'd been able to get all of their assignments done without having to intermingle. Any feelings that Hermione thought she might have had for the Slytherin Prince were thoroughly snuffed out after all of the horrible things he'd said to her the last time they'd spoken.

She was jarred out of her thoughts when the door to the common room swung open. Hermione tensed for a moment until she saw Theo come strutting though the door.

The sight of the Head Girl stretched out on the couch in her barely there tank top and pajama shorts, making quick work of a bottle of Fire Whiskey that no doubt belonged to his blond best friend, made Theo grin.

Theo had done his best to stay a neutral party in the drama that consisted of his two best friends and the walking, talking wet dream that was driving them both mad. Hermione took as many moments with Theo as she could get, which weren't many; a few class assignments where they were partnered up, a few minutes in the library when they were studying, but mostly when they were patrol partners. He would give her a passing smile when they ran into each other in the halls, but she always kept her distance when Blaise and Draco were around.

Hermione took another drink of the foul liquid, grimaced, then looked at Theo, "Shouldn't you be celebrating your victory with your fellow snakes?"

Theo chuckled as he lifted her legs and deposited himself next to her, placing her legs on his lap, "Do I detect a hint of bitterness in your lovely voice?" He grabbed the bottle out of her hand and took a swig, then handed it back to her.

Hermione took another sip, "I only have myself to blame; I knew what would happen if I got involved with you lot."

Theo feigned being offended, "Hey, I'm just an innocent bystander in all of this."

Theo was absentmindedly rubbing Hermione's legs, and it felt so good, she decided to let him of the hook; for now, "Why are you here, Theo?"

"Draco and Blaise are so preoccupied with the slags in our dorm, I figured it would be a good chance to sneak away and spend some time with my favorite Gryffindor. We haven't really had a chance to chat since your little falling out with Blaise. I also wanted to ask you what happened between you and Draco; he won't tell me, but I know _something_ happened, because he's been a right bitch ever sense."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Draco was just being Draco, and I let him get to me; I don't want to talk about him. How's Blaise doing?"

Theo smiled, "He's as fine as can be expected after getting his heart stomped on."

Hermione sat up and pulled herself away from him, "I did not stomp on his heart! I was doing him a favor; now he's free to be with as many girls as he wants."

Theo took the bottle from Hermione and took another drink, "For someone so smart, you can be so dense. Blaise was always free to be with as many girls as he wanted; he just had no desire to be with anyone but you. You got under his skin, Love."

Hermione snorted and took another long swig of the alcohol before Theo took it away from her, "Okay, I think you've had enough."

"Blaise Zabini would never let a girl get under his skin. He wasn't the least bit upset when I called things off with him. I've been miserable without him this last week and he acts as though nothing ever happened. He's gone back to calling me Granger, for shit's sake!" Her rant and all the alcohol was making Hermione's head spin.

Theo smiled, "Blaise is very good at hiding his feelings, Hermione. Just because he acts like it doesn't bother him, doesn't mean it's true."

"Well, he could at least _pretend_ to be miserable! Blaise won't talk to me, Draco hates me; it really hurts, Theo."

Tears staring flowing down Hermione's cheeks and Theo scooted closer to her and gently wiped them away, "Don't cry, Mia Bella."

"I just want the pain to go away." Hermione cried as she rested her head on Theo's chest. She inhaled his cologne and smiled; it was woodsy with a bit of spice and it smelled heavenly on him.

Theo smirked, "Are you smelling me?"

The alcohol, current lack of a sex life, and very good looking Slytherin sitting next to her was making Hermione's body quickly heat up. She nodded and took another whiff, "You smell good enough to eat." She murmured as she made her way up his chest and then inhaled again as her lips grazed Theo's neck with a barely there touch.

Girls kissing his neck always got Theo all hot and bothered, and now was no exception. He shivered as he felt something start to stir south of the border, and he gently grabbed Hermione's shoulders to hold her still, "Okay, Love, time to stop. You're treading on dangerous ground now."

He could feel Hermione smile against his neck and then he sucked in a breath when she started placing hot, open mouthed kisses all along his neck as her hands started their exploration of his chest. Theo held in a groan and gently pushed Hermione back, "I'm serious, Hermione. You're drunk, insanely hot, barely clothed, and I am a Slytherin. I refuse to take responsibility for what will happen if you do not detach yourself from my neck."

Hermione nipped the skin just under his ear and Theo _did_ groan. She looked at him with hooded eyes, "Good, because that's exactly what I want right now; no responsibility, no pain, no thinking. Just feeling. I want to feel your lips on me, Mr. Nott. I want to feel your lips on me, your hands on me, and I want to feel you inside me; deep inside me. Make me forget, Theo." The last sentence was barely a whisper.

Hermione knew she'd won the battle when she saw Theo's eyes darken and he growled before pouncing on her and smashing his lips against hers; Hermione moaned into his mouth and he was instantly hard. He didn't fancy the idea of Draco or Blaise possibly walking in on him and the Gryffindor Goddess, so he pulled her up with him and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to her room. Vaguely aware of what was going on, Hermione whispered the password to her bedroom against Theo's lips and when the door swung open, Theo carried her inside and kicked the door shut. Hermione unwrapped herself from his waist and planted her feet on the ground and then pushed Theo onto the bed and straddled him. She ran her hands under his shirt and along the contours of his stomach and chest and marveled at how fit he was. She briefly wondered if all the Slytherin boys were as psychically appealing under their clothes, but then images of Crabbe and Goyle came to her mind and she shuddered and quickly blocked that frame of mind. Theo grabbed the edges of his t-shirt and pulled it up and over his head and tossed it to the side and then did the same with Hermione's tank top. He stopped for a moment to appreciate the sight of her bare breasts and then latched onto one of her nipples and gently grazed it with his teeth. Hermione gasped at the sensation and threw her head back as Theo assaulted her breasts with his hands and mouth. She leaned forward and kissed him and then pushed him onto to his back and made quick work of his belt buckle and zipper as she grabbed the hem of his jeans and boxers and pulled the down over his hips so he could kick them off. He sprang free and Hermione paused to marvel for a moment; those Slytherins really were in a class of their own. She wrapped her small hand around him and began stroking him lightly.

Theo fisted the sheets and groaned, "You have been on the top of my fantasy list for a long time, Pet, and if you keep doing that, this won't last very long."

Hermione smirked as she continued gliding her hand along his length, "What about that famous Slytherin stamina that I've heard so much about?" She gently squeezed him and Theo moaned, "Bloody hell, woman."

She was blatantly teasing him and he growled as he sat up and pulled her against him, "You have entirely too many clothes on." He hissed against her lips.

Hermione ran her finger along the tip of his shaft, "So take them off."

Theo smirked and grabbed her ass cheeks and pulled her flush against him and then flipped them over so that she was laying on the bed beneath him. He attacked her lips as he ran his hands down over her breasts, across the smooth skin of her stomach and down to the hem of her shorts. She lifted her hips to help him pull her shorts and panties all the way down as she kicked them off.

Theo ran his hand along the inside of her thigh and Hermione shuddered, "Merlin, you feel good," he ran the tip of his finger along the outside of her slick folds and she whimpered, making him grin, "You're so responsive, too."

He dipped a finger into her and she moaned as he turned his attention back to her breasts as he nipped and sucked on them while his hand worked at her hot center. It had been so long and Hermione could already feel the pressure building deep inside her, so she gently grabbed his hand to stop his ministrations, "I want you inside me when I come, Theo."

Those words almost made him come on the spot, so her grabbed her hips and flipped them over so that she was straddling him again. He muttered a contraceptive spell that he knew like the back of his hand, guided her over his shaft, and in one quick motion, he pulled her down onto him.

Hermione cried out at the intrusion and Theo's eyes rolled to the back of his head, "Fucking hell, you're so tight."

Hermione rolled her hips as she rode him, bracing herself on his thighs to get better leverage. Theo held onto her hip with one hand and stroked her engorged nub with the other.

"Oh, fuck." Hermione moaned out and Theo smiled, "That's it; come for me, love."

He stroked her faster and Hermione's moans and whimpers got louder as her climax approached. He gently pinched her nub and Hermione cried out as she crashed over the edge. Theo watched her as she rode out her orgasm, and when he was sure she had come down off her high, her flipped them over again and kissed her.

"My turn." He murmured against her lips.

Hermione wrapped her legs around his hips and Theo buried himself to the hilt and they both moaned at the new sensation. They quickly found a rhythm and when Theo found her g-spot, Hermione lost all conscious thought. She hooked her ankles together and pulled him into her with more force causing Theo to let out a string of obscenities as he began pumping into her faster. Hermione's second orgasm exploded in waves and the feel of her muscles clenching around his shaft brought Theo over the edge. He emptied his seed inside of her with a loud groan, and after what felt like minutes, his other senses returned to him. He rolled off of her and collapsed onto the bed, and they both laid there for a moment, attempting to catch their breaths.

Theo turned to face her, "Holy shit, woman."

Hermione smiled and snuggled up next to him and he put his arm around her.

After a few minutes of silence, Theo sighed, "You should talk to him."

Hermione looked up at him, "What?"

Theo rolled his eyes, "Blaise; you should talk to him."

Hermione frowned, "If Blaise wanted to talk to me, he would have by now."

"Blaise is a stubborn wanker; you hurt his pride and if you want to make amends with him, _you_ will have to make the first move. I promise you though, it'll be worth it."

Hermione thought for a moment, "You really think I should?"

Theo chuckled, "Yes!"

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine; but if he shuts me out, I will hex your bullocks off, Nott."

Theo smiled, "You wont be sorry, love."

Hermione sat up and grabbed her underwear and tank top and slipped them on as Theo also got dressed. They were sitting on the edge of the bed when Hermione buried her head in her hands, "Draco was right; I am the Slytherin Whore!" She wailed.

Theo laughed and tilted her chin up so she was looking at him, "No you aren't, Hermione. Draco is also a wanker and you should never take to heart what he says."

Hermione was clearly oblivious to his friend's true feelings towards her, and while he wanted to help her understand, he also knew that it wasn't his place, so he kept his mouth shut.

"You were hurting, and there are many, many different ways that a person can be comforted; and like I said, I am a slimy snake, after all" Theo wagged his eyebrows at her and Hermione laughed.

"Well, I don't regret regret it; not for a second." She said.

Theo grinned, "Of course you don't."

Hermione rolled her eyes and he bent down and kissed her temple, "I should be getting back before people start to wonder where I am."

Hermione walked him to her door and then grabbed his hand to stop him, "Thank you."

Theo knew that she wasn't referring to the sex; she was talking about Blaise. As amazing as Hermione was, Theo knew that he didn't have the same feelings towards her that his friends did, and he knew as well as she did that this was a one time only thing, and they were better off as friends.

"Anytime, love." He squeezed her hand and then saw himself out.

* * *

 _ **Well, that was fun.**_

 _ **I wasn't planning on having them actually hook up, but this came to me the other night and I just went with it.**_

 _ **I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ;)**_


	11. Invisible Touch

_**Two chapters in one week!?**_

 _ **You're welcome. ;)**_

* * *

 _She seems to have an invisible touch yeah  
She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart  
She seems to have an invisible touch yeah  
It takes control and slowly tears you apart._

 _-Invisible Touch by Genesis_

Hermione woke up feeling like a new person the next day; it was amazing what a good romp in the sack could do for a girl's view on the world. Well, that and the fact that she had a pretty good feeling about the talk that she intended to have with Blaise. Theo had told her that she wouldn't regret it, and she believed him. She thought that the most difficult part of the whole thing would be actually getting Blaise alone; he had a tendency to avoid her. She had just come out of the bathroom freshly showered and dressed when she saw the object of her thoughts sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Blaise?"

Blaise looked up form the book and stared at her for a moment before he finally spoke, "Granger."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the use of her surname, "What are you doing here; where are your cohorts in crime?"

Blaise went back to his book, "Theo told me to meet him and Draco here, but that was thirty minutes ago; I'm about ready to leave."

Hermione grinned at that; this was Theo giving her the opportunity to talk to Blaise.

She made her way around the couch and sat down on the opposite side from him, "Well, since you here, I was hoping that we could talk."

Blaise looked up from his book again and quirked an eyebrow at her, "You want to talk?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yes, it's this thing where people open their mouths and sounds come out."

She saw his lips twitch into an almost smile at her snarky comment, "Ok, I'll bite; what do you want to talk about, Gra-"

He stopped when when she growled at him, "Stop calling me Granger!"

Blaise full on smiled now, "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Not to you, it's not!" She barked, "To you I am Princess, Love, Mia Bella, Hermione, but _not_ Granger! You haven't called me that since the beginning of the year!" Hermione stood up and started pacing; she did that when she was frustrated.

Blaise put his book on the table, "Ok, _Hermione;_ What do you want to talk about?"

Hermione stared at him for a moment. This was not her Blaise at all; he was so cold and detached when he spoke to her. She couldn't remember him being that way with anyone before and that's all he was towards her. That hurt her more than she cared to admit.

Blaise rolled his eyes when she didn't say anything, "Merlin's sake, Granger; just spit it out!"

Hermione flinched at his tone and looked at him like he had just kicked her puppy, "Who are you?" She whispered.

"What?" Blaise barked.

"Who are you?" She said a bit louder. The good feeling she'd had this morning was now just a distant memory.

Blaise barked out a laugh, "What the bloody hell are you talking about, woman?"

"Were you only nice to me because I was shagging you?" She asked.

Blaise looked at her in disbelief as he got up and went to stand right in front of her, "Is that what you think?"

He was so close, Hermione had to back up so she could look him in the eye, ""What else am I supposed to think, Blaise? You don't talk to me anymore, and when you do, you are so...distant and right now you are just being downright hostile; and to think that I actually felt something for you!"

Blaise's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, "You what?"

Hermione took another step back, "Why the bloody hell do you think I ended things with us? It wasn't because I didn't like you or what we were doing; it was the exact opposite, actually. I was starting to have real feelings for you and they were getting stronger every damn day, so I had to put a stop to it before I fell so hard that I couldn't come back from it! I know that nothing real can ever happen with us because we come from two very different worlds, and so I just needed time to sort out these damn feelings. If I had known that this was how you would treat me afterwords, I would have just dealt with the them. I never wanted us to stop being friends, Blaise. This cold reception that you seem to save just for me is killing me."

Hermione sighed in defeat and a tear rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes to try and fight back the tears, and when she opened them again, she jumped when she saw that Blaise was standing right in front of her.

He brushed away a tear with his thumb and cupped her cheek, "Don't cry, mia bella," He said softly.

Hermione leaned into his touch, "I miss you," she whispered.

"I miss too." He said.

"You do?"

He let out a short laugh, "I've been miserable this last month."

"Then why have you been so distant?"

"Because I'm a fool. I thought you'd grown tired of me and my pride was hurt; you have no idea how much you've affected me, mia amata." (My lovely.)

Hermione gave him a small smile, "So, you don't hate me?"

Blaise chuckled and wrapped her in his arms, "I couldn't hate you if I wanted to, and believe me, I think it would be easier if I did."

Hermione melted in his embrace; she'd started to think that she'd never again get to feel his arms around her. They stood like that in complete silence for a few moments just holding each other, and then Blaise kissed the top of Hermione's head, "I've missed you so much, Il mio amore." (My love)

At that moment, the door to the common room swung open and Theo and Draco walked in. Theo looked at the scene in front of him and grinned. Hermione glanced at him and gave him a bashful smile and he winked at her.

Draco looked at the scene and scowled, "Che cazzo , Blaise ? Ho pensato che avresti ottenuto oltre il vostro piccolo errore di giudizio ." (What the fuck, Blaise? I thought you'd gotten over your little lapse in judgement.)

Blaise sighed in irritation and gently pried Hermione off of him, "Why don't you go to breakfast, love? We'll see you soon."

Hermione knew an argument was about to ensue between the Slytherins, so she was quick to comply, "Alright."

As Hermione walked passed Theo she reached out and squeezed his hand, "Thank you."

Theo smiled, "Anytime, love."

Draco sneered at the pair, and Hermione completely ignored Draco as she bounced out of the room.

Draco glared at Theo, "Was this your doing?"

Theo smiled unabashedly at Draco, "Damn right."

Draco opened his mouth to lay into Theo, but Blaise walked over and put his hand up to stop him, "Just stop it, Draco; this is getting ridiculous."

Draco scoffed, " _I'm_ being ridiculous!?"

"Yes, you are!" Blaise barked, "It doesn't matter how nasty you are to her, _we_ know the truth!" He gestured between himself and Theo. "You do realize that our lives are about to change forever, don't you?"

"What the hell does that have to do with this situation, Blaise?" Draco growled.

Blaise barked out a laugh and threw his hands up, "It has _everything_ to do with the situation! Things are going to change, Draco. They might change next year, they might change _today;_ the point is that you have to stop being afraid."

Draco sneered, "I am _not_ -"

"Yes, you are." Blaise interrupted, "Every man in this room knows just how special that woman is; she has a way of getting under your skin and leaving a mark on your soul. This last month has been hell for me, and with everything going on outside of these walls, I've finally realized that life is too damn unpredictable. Things can change in a split second and then it will be too late; it'll be too late to live your life the way you want. You, my friend, are afraid of living your life. You're in love with her, Draco; just admit it."

Draco looked at Blaise for a moment without speaking, and then, "Why does it matter, Blaise? It's pretty clear that you're in love with her too, and I can guarantee that she likes you a hell of a lot more than she likes me right now."

Blaise and Theo both noticed that for the first time, Draco didn't deny his feelings for the Gryffindor; that was something.

Blaise smiled, "There's nothing between us, mate; that ship has sailed. She's my friend, but that's it."

Draco turned to Theo, "What about you? You disappeared last night and are taking credit for their little reunion; what were you doing last night?"

Theo raised an eyebrow, "This isn't about me, mate; this is about you. It's not too late to make things right."

Draco raked his hands through his hair in frustration and dumped himself onto a chair. Hermione bloody Granger had been on his mind almost constantly for the last month. Draco had felt horrible for saying all those things to her the last time they spoke, but he had been jealous, confused and so completely frustrated that those words had just flown out of his mouth before he'd had a chance to think about it. The truth was, the moment they'd had in his room when she'd discovered he had a sister had completely wrecked him; the moment their lips had touched for the first time, he knew that he was ruined for all other women. He had gotten so carried away when he was kissing her that he no doubt would have shagged her right there on his bedroom floor if she'd let him; he wouldn't have even bothered taking her to the bed, he'd wanted her that badly. However, her conscience had gotten the best of her and she'd run off, mentioning something about Blaise.

That had been the other problem; he'd almost shagged the girl of his dreams knowing full well that his best friend was involved with her at the time. He was _not_ the kind of guy that dicked over his friends like that. Draco knew that Blaise had real feelings for Hermione, and when he'd found out that she'd called things off with Blaise after their little snog fest, he'd felt so guilty, he'd lashed out at Hermione and said some really stupid things. He'd wanted to apologize to her several times, but she'd avoided him like the plague and when she'd split up their head tasks so that they wouldn't have to be around each other, he knew he'd thoroughly screwed the pooch, and yet, his friends were standing in front of him, telling him that it wasn't too late?

They were completely barmy!

Draco looked at his friends, "You don't know how bad I messed things up with her; I said some really stupid shit and she hasn't said a word to me in a month."

"Was it before or after you snogged her?" Theo asked.

Blaise looked surprised by this revelation, and Draco narrowed his eyes at Theo, "Did she tell you about that?"

Theo smiled, "No, you just did. I know you two better than you know yourselves."

Blaise looked at Draco, "This was about the time she stopped things between us?"

Draco sighed, "Yes, but that's not why she did it."

Blaise nodded, "I know; she told me why."

Blaise didn't elaborate on the situation, and Draco didn't ask.

"So, I'm just supposed to walk up to her and say, 'I'm sorry that I was such a shit to you, let's shag'?"

The boys smiled at him, "I'm sure you'll figure something out, mate; you've always had a way with the birds." Theo said.

Draco scoffed, "This isn't just any 'bird' we're talking about. I have a feeling that this will be like pulling teeth; extremely painful."

Theo clapped him on the back, "Serves you right for being such a tosser. Now, can we _please_ go down to breakfast? I worked up quite an appetite last night and I'm starving."

He smiled impishly, but didn't offer any details and Blaise and Draco glared at him as they followed him out the door.

Cheeky bastard.

* * *

 _ **Not very exciting, but this chapter was essential. Now we can move on to the Dramione phase of the story.**_

 _ **Don't forget to R & R! :)**_


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